Le livre d'or de la comtesse Diane

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Preface

TO THK

AMERICAN EDITION.

I

Of all that glorious host of saints whose virtuous lives shed undying lustre on the annals of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, there is hardly one whose life was more conformable to the maxims of the Grospel, more nearly a perfect copy of the life of Christ, than was the life of him, the subject of the present work. St Francis was, in an age of laxity, a prodigy of penance, humility, suffering, love for the cross. Long before the coming of Francis, Europe had been little else than one immense battle-field. Science, driven from the world, found refuge in the monasteries, and there fed her flickering lamp by the sacred shrine of religion. The Church of God was ever battling against widespread ignorance and wholesale corruption. Against the ark of God there swelled a current of evils, deeper far and darker than ever swelled against her before. But when, from a human standpoint of view, she^ seemed abandoned by her Divine Founder, and, to all appearances, \ was about to succumb to the evils that direatened her very exist- \ ence. He, faithful to His promise to be with her all days, even to \ the consummation of the world, raised up in Italy, that fruitful garden of saints, him who, according to the command He gave him, repaired His felling house with learning and religion. Grand 1 and noble mission, to restore the light of knowledge to darkened, l' blood-stained Europe ; to enkindle anew the fervor of Christian : charity in society, so long distracted by the petty feuds of rival lords. Well did he understand the magnitude of his mission^ and right S well did he accomplish it* True reformer as he was, he struck at \ the very root of evil, by devoting his whole life to the work of ^ cleansing, purifying, and ennobling the hearts of men; by striving to reform all society, by reforming the character of each of its V members. How wide the difference between him and theso- ■ called reformers of the sixteenth centuiy, who made it their mis j sion^ not to reform the manners of a people, but to bring on Euroi

- ntsfACB 10 that curse of curses, religious war ; to take upon themselves to reform the doctrines of Christ's infellible Church, until they and their successors have at last reformed away nearly every article of revealed truth, and have substituted, in its stead, a confusing jumble of shoreless doctrines.

St. Francis, the better to effect a speedy and lasting change in the fece of society, like SS. Anthony and Pacomius of old, became the father of a numerous offspring, whom he endued with his own burning zeal for the interests of God and man; who bore the light of fitith to countries shrouded in the gloom of the shadow of death; who overran Europe, founding monasteries and institutions of leaniing, instructing the ignorant, preaching to high and low, *' the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Europe, torn by intestine broils, a prey to the Northman and Saracen, began to recover her pristine vigor and glory, and blessed the name of Francis. Such were some of the mighty changes wrought by a man, poor, alone, at first without influence ; a man who practised the most rigid observance of the evangelical counsels, Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience ; a man who preached to the world Christ crucified ; that not surfeitings and drunkenness, but mortification and self-denial, are the true marks of His followers, "for the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away." The name of Francis has ever been a solemn protest against sensuality ; and jiis life will enable us to learn that lesson, too frequently ignored n our days and country : moderation in living. This life will each the people of to-day that the precious ornaments of a Chrisian are those which ennoble the soul— not those which pander to *he irregular appetites of the*body. It will teach man that * 'dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return," was never spoken-of the soul, which is akin to the angels — ^intellectual, immaterial, undying, 1 and eternal. Consequently, its adornment by the practice of virtue, t and not the gratification of the body, should form the lofty object I of man's ambition. The prevailing sentiment of our age is, that we enjoy the good things that are present ; that we clothe ourselves in soft raiment; fill ourselves with costly meat and drink. Such, however, is not the teaching, of Him bom in a stable, and preeminently styled the "Man of sorrows." Such is not the lesson taught by the life of His fervent disciple, St. Francis, but rather that the poor in spirit possess the kingdom of heaven; that meat and drink are not the kingdom of heaven, neither is the gratification of the bodily appetites ; but it is like to a merchant seeking j a priceless treasure, and selling all he has to procure it Love not! the world, nor those things which are in the world; if any man lovej the world, the charity of the Fatheir is not in him. Since such is lesson taught by the Life of St Francis, great good can be ;ed by its publication. Through the efforts of the eminent

THB AXXRICAN EDITION. f

publishers, Messts. D. & J. Sadlier, & Co., we are, at ]a$t, presented with what justly deserves the name of a Life of St Francis^ founded on the labors of the great Irish Franciscan, Luke Wading, rendered into English by the eminent Oratorian Fathers, of London. It stands in need of no praise of ours to recommend it to a generous public. We have read the work, and we heartily commend it as a true and succinct account of the life of our Seraphic Father, St Francis.

Father Charles da Nazzano, O. S. F.,

Ciistos PramndoL

St BonaTcnture's College,

Alkgany> N. Y.»

PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR,

FATHER CANDIDE CHALIPPE, RECOLLECT.

WHEREIN THE PREJUDICES OF CERTAIN PERSONS AGAINST THE MIR« ACLES WHICH ARE RECORDED IN THE LIVES- OF THE SAINTS ARE SHOWN TO BE BOTH UNREASONABLE AND DANGEROUS, AND THAT THE MIRACLES ATTRIBUTED TO SAINT FRANCIS ARE VERY WELL AUTHENTICATED.

A VERY common failing amongst men is to adopt one extreme in the endeavor to avoid another, and sometimes not to perceive that the extreme into which they fall is greater than that which they had sought to flee from. To insure themselves against weak incredulity, some have imbibed such prejudice against the miracles in the Lives of the Saints, that they cannot endure to hear of them; the very ideas of miracles, revelations, ecstasies, visions, apparitiolis, are hateful and disgusting to them; all that is said on these subjects they look upon as fabulous and incredible ; they call in question the most undeniable evidence, or attribute these wonders to natural and unknown causes. The wonders which are recorded in the Life of St Francis, afford an opportunity of grappling with these prejudices : it must first be shown that they are unreasonable, of which here is the proof.

In the first place, no man using his right reason will reject the I wonders recorded in the Lives of the Saints, because of their impossibility ; there are only such senseless individuals as Spinosa, who ventured to say that miracles are impossible, and by arguments, as absurd* as they are impious, attempt to limit the almighty power of God, and, subjecting it to a sort of necessity, destroy the idea of the all-perfect Being. Miracles are extraordinary events, twhich break through the laws of nature, and exceed the force of all natural causes ; it is only necessary to make use of our reason

* See ** Reflexions sur PAth^isme," by Father de Toumemine, and the Mdmoires de Trevoux, July, 1722, Art. 66, on the book entitled " La Religion Chr6- tienne prouv6e par les Faits," the author of which, the better to triumph over Spinosism, afiother subject of miracles, has, without thinking of it, furnished him with arras by a singular opinion. Mr. Tournely refutes it, and shows that it is a mere chimera^ — Prsekct. Theolog. de Incam., quaest. 3, p. 263.

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to be aware that God, whose power is infinite, having freely estaolished these laws, may, whenever He thinks fit, break through them Himself by the ministry of His creatures, whom He makes use of as He pleases ; that these suspensions may enter into ihe external designs of His wisdom and providence, and that they occur by successive acts, without there having been any change in Him, because it is an act of His will which causes them, as it does every other thing. Now this proves that miracles are possible, and that there is no impossibility in the wonders recorded in the Lives of the Saints.

In the second place, these wonders ought not to cause an incredulous surprise in any sensible -person who pays due attention to the wonders of nature. '* Man," says St Augustine, **sees extraordinary things happen, and he admires them, while he himself, the admirer, is a great wonder, and a much greater miracle than any things which are done by the intervention of man. There is nothing more marvellous done in the world, which is not less wonderful than the world itself. All nature is full of what is miraculous ; we seem unconscious of it, because we see those things daily, and because this daily repetition lowers them in our eyes. And this is one reason why God has reserved to Himself other things out of the common course of nature, on which He shows His power from time to time, in order that their ! novelty may strike us ; but when we consider attentively, and with reflection, the miracles we constantly see, we find that they are far greater than others, however surprising and uncommon these j may be."*

The holy doctor admits that the prodigies which are out of the common course of nature, and which are properly called miracles, are to be viewed with astonishment, since they are works of God, worthy of. admiration ; he only requires that the surprise they 1 cause shall be qualified by a consideration of the wonders of nature, to which he likewise gives the name of miracles, in a | more extended sense : on the same principle, and a fortiori^ what | there is surprising in them should not make them appear to us incredible. An enlightened mind does not believe in miracles which are communicated to him, unless due proof of them is adduced ; but it is not because what is wonderful in them renders him incredulous, because he sees more marvellous things in the

: N universe and in himself. If men who apply themselves to the study of nature, are pertinacious in refusing to believe in the miracles of the saints, it is because they do not make use of the light tjiey have received, and do not reason deductively ; they have only sought to gratify their curiosity, or to gain credit for their discoveries ; and do not some of them lose themselves in their speculations, and become impious, even so as to recognize no other God than nature itself?

In the third place, faith in the great mysteries of religion must incline us to believe in the wonders we read in the Lives of the Saints. We say to the Calvin ists : "You believe the mysteries, of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Resurrection ; why, then, are you so obstinate in refusing to believe the Real Presence? They are equally wonderful and incomprehensible." Are we, then, not called upon to say to those whose prejudices we oppose : '* As you belong to the society of the faithful, you not only believe that three persons make only one God ; that the Son of God was made man ; that the dead shall rise again ; but also, that Jesus Christ becomes every day present on our altars, under the species of bread and wine, at the words of consecration ; and you believe all the .other astonishing wonders that are proposed to you in our holy religion : why, then, do you find such repugnance in believing those of the Lives of the Saints, which are far inferior to the former" ?

It is useless to say in answer, that these last are only based on J human testimony, which we are not obliged to receive ; that the r mysteries are propounded to us by divine authority, to which we are bound to submit ; for this is not the question before us. We only compare one wonder with another, and we maintain that the belief in the one should facilitate the belief in the other. In fact, if we believe with a firm and unshaken faith what God, in His goodness, has been pleased to effect for the salvation of all men, and what He continues daily to effect in the Eucharist ; may we not easily convince ourselves that He may have given extraordinary marks of His affection for his most faithful servants?

In the fourth place, similar wonders to those which are found in the Lives of the Saints are also found in the Holy Scriptures. Raptures, ecstasies, frequent visions and apparitions, continual revelations, an infinity of miracles, miraculous fests of forty days, are things recorded in the Old and New Testaments. We believe all these wonderful circumstances, and we are obliged to believe them, although they far surpass our understanding ; on what, then, shall we rely for maintaining that the wonders recorded in the Lives of the Saints are improbable, and that we may reasonably call them in question ? Reason, on the contrary, marks them as so much the more probable and worthy of credit, as we know and believe

It PREFACE.

similar ones which we may not doubt of. Christians should be

accustomed to what is marvellous, and require nothing Unt proofs

for the most unusual prodigies.

J In the fifth place, the promise which Jesus made that the

I power of working miracles should be given to true believers, gives

f authority to the belief in miracles in the Lives of the Saints.

I ** Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works

that I do he shall do also, and greater than these shall he do ;

because I go to the Father. And whatsoever you ask the Father

in my name, that will I do."* "And these signs shall follow

them that believe : In my name they shall cast out devils ; they

shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and

if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they

shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover." "f

Our Saviour, according to the doctrine of the holy fathers, J has promised the gift of miracles, not to each one of the faithful in particular, but to the Church in general ; and His promise is for all times, when the good of religion requires its accomplishment Heretics pretend that it only related to the days of the apostles, and that miracles were only required for the establishment of the faith. What right have they to limit the words of the Son of God ? Do they imagine that they understand the Scriptures better than the holy doctors? How will they prove that since the time of the apostles there have been no combinations of circumstances in which the good of religion shall have required that miracles should be performed? They were required for the infidels, to whom the Gospel has been preached in different centuries, as well as for the Greek and Roman idolaters, to whom it was first announced. The Church has required them to silence tire heretics who have successively endeavored to impugn her dogmas, and to strengthen the faith of her own children. They have been always useful for manifesting the eminence of virtue, for the glory of God, for the conversion of sinners, for reanimating piety, for nourishing and strengthening the hopes of the good things of another life. We are, therefore, justified in saying that the promise of Jesus Christ is for all times, in certain occasions, and that the belief in the miracles in the Lives of the Saints is authorized thereby.

In the sixth place, that there have been miracles in the Lives of the Saints are fects, the proofs of which are unquestionable. The Acts of the Martyrs, which have always been read in the Church,

* Tohn xiv., 12, ix» t Mark xvi., 17, la.

t S. Chrys. de S. Babyla contra Gent.» No. 12, edit nov.; S. Angus. d«i iWt Dei, lib. 22, a Sy et Retract, lib. l/c. 13 et 14; S. Greg., MoraL^ lib. \, Oi 7,edit nov.

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and the genuineness * of which has been admitted by the most talented critics, contain recitals of the most wonderful events : the confessors of the faith instantaneously cured, after having undergone the most cruel tortures ; wild beasts tamed and crouching at their feet ; lights and celestial voices, apparitions of Jesus Christ and His angels, and many other wonderful circumstances.

In the first six centuries there are scarcely any ecclesiastical writers and holy fathers who do not record miracles worked by the servants of God, and by their relics ; and they speak of them as of things which they have either seen with their own eyes, or were of public notoriety.

Saint Justin Martyr, in the second century, speaking of the power of Jesus Christ over the demons, in his Apology, addressed to the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, and to the Roman Senate, says : ** You have proofs of what passes before your eyes, and in your city, and in all the rest of the world ; for you know that many of those possessed, not having been able to be delivered by your exorcists, enchanters, and magicians, have been so by the Christians, who have exorcised them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate." f

S^nt Ireneus assures us that in the same century some true disciples of Jesus Christ had received supernatural gifts, which they made use of advantageously for other men : **Some," says he, *' drive away devils ; and this is certain, that often those who have been delivered embrace the faith, and join the Church. To others it is given to know the fiiture, and to have prophetic visions. Others cure the sick by the imposition of hands, and restore them to perfect health. Very often, even in every place, and for some requisite cause, the brethren solicit, by listing and fervent prayers, the resurrection of a dead person, and obtain it ; these dead, thus revived, have lived with us for several years afterwards. What shall I say further? It is not possible to enumerate the extraordinary gifts which the Church receives from God, and what she operates in every part of the world, in favor of the nations, in the name of Jesus Christ crucified." J

**We can," says Origen, writing against Celsus, "show an

immense multitude of Greeks and barbarians who* believe in our

^.prd Jesus Christ ; there are some who prove their faith by the

power of working miracles. They cure the sick by invoking their

God, the Creator and the Sovereign Lord of all things ; and the

^ See Dom. Thierri Ruvnard, Prsefat. in Acta Martyrum; and Father Honor^ de Sainte Marie, Reflexions sur les Ragles et sur P Usage de la Critique, Dissert. 4, Art. I, et seq.

t S. Justin, Apol. 2, sec. i, p. 45.

I S. Xren. cont. Hderes., lib. 2, c 32, alias 57, n. 4 and 5, c. 31, alias 66 a. a a^ 3, tib. 5, c. 6, 11. i»

name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, of whose Gospel ihey recite a part We ourselves have seen several sick persons cielivered from the most formidable maladies, and the cured are too numerous to be counted."*

Tertullian, in his Apology, and in another work, records plainly the miraculous fall of rain which was obtained from heaven by the prayers of the Christian soldiers, which saved the army of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, which was reduced to the last extremity, He proves the truth of this fact by the very letter of the emperor, f We have also authentic proofs of this event in the authors and records of paganism itself. Tertullian, likewise, tells us that the pagans received extraordinary graces, by means of the Christians, some of which he quotes, and he adds ; ** How many persons of distinction, without mentioning other people, have been thus delivered from the devil, and cured of their evils l"f

St Cyprian upbraided an idolater in the following terms, while refuting him : **Tlve gods whom you adore we exorcise in the name of the true God, and they are compelled to leave the bodies which they possessed. Oh, if you chose to see and hear them, when suffering under the power of our words, as if they were spiritual scourges, and feeling the secret operation of the divine mastery ! They howl terrifically, entreat of us to spare them, declare, in presence of their adorers, whence they came, and confess a future judgment Come and be convinced of the truth of what we say ; be at least moved. Those whom you adore, fear us ; those to whom you pray, entreat of us to spare them ; those whom you revere as sovereigns, are as prisoners in our hands, and tremble as so many slaves. We interrogate them, and in your presence they declare what they are ; they cannot dissemble the impostures which they make use of to deceive you. *' §

Such are the miracles which many of God's servants operated in the second and third centuries, and which cannot be called in question. How many different kinds are recorded in subsequent times by St. Basil, and by St Gregory of Nyssa, in the life of St Gregory Thaumaturgus ; by St Athanasius, in the life of St Anthony; by Sulpicius Severus, in the life of St Martin; by St Chrysostom, St. Jerome, St Ambrose, St Augustine, St. Paulinus, in many parts of their works ; by Theodoret, in his religious history ; by Pope St Gregory, in his dialogues ; by St Hilar)'

of Aries, St Ouen, and very many others worthy of credit 1

* Orig. cont Cels., lib. 3, p. 124, and lib. i, p. 5, lib. 2, p. 62, lib. 8, p. 337. Edit. Cantabtig., 1658.

t See S. de Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, torn. 2, p. 407, et seq. Lib. ad Scapul., supra.

t Tertul. ApoL, n. 5, p. 6, et lib. ad Scapul., n. 4, p. 71, Edit Rigalt

i S. Cypr. ad Demet; p. 201, et de Idol. Var., p. 206, Edit Rigalt et alibi.

I rhese saintly and learned Bishops, Avitus, Metropolitan of \^enne, Stephen of Lyons, Eon of Aries, conferring with the Arians, in presence of Gondebauld, King of the Burgundians, after having proved the consubstantiality of the Word, by the testimony of the Scripture, and by powerful arguments, offered to give additional proof thereof by miracles, if the heretics would promise to acquiesce in consequence ; and quoted the example of St Remigius, Apostle of the French, who was then living, and setting up the faith on the riiins of idolatry by a multitude of prodigies.* The miracles operated by means of relics are neither less well authenticated, nor less celebrated ; they were known to the whole world. St Augustine was an eye-witness of them ; being at Milan when St Ambrose discovered, by means of a revelation, the spot where the bodies of SS. Gcrvasius and Protasius reposed.f He saw a great many miracles performed in Africa by the relics of St Stephen, of which he makes mention in his book of the City of God, J written for the confutation of the most learned of ' the pagans, wherein he says that, to quote only those operated in the dioceses of Calame and Hippo, several books would not suffice. Nicetius, Bishop of Treves, writing to Clodosvinda, or Glotinda, Queen of the Lombards, to exhort her to solicit the conversion of King AlboTn, her husband, advised her to make use of the visible miracles which were operated at the tomb of St. Martin, and by the invocation of St Germanus, St Hilary, St Lupus, St Remigius, and St Medardus. § They were so evident, that the heretics dared not call them in question, and could not deprive them of their splendor. God made use of these for the conversion of kings, and of the entfre nations. ||

In all ages after the six first centuries, the prodigies of the Lives of the Saints are noticed by numerous authors of all countries, whose talents, learning, probity, holiness, and dignity, render them respectable to the most searching critics. They are supported by incontrovertible evidence, by juridical depositions, by authentic acts, and by splendid monuments which have been erected to their memory by bishops, princes, magistrates, cities and kingdoms, to perpetuate the recollections of these splendid achievements. We find that the saints have made numerous predictions, which have been justified by the event ; and that, either moved by the spirit of God, or compelled by obedience, they have admitted the supernatural operations which they felt in their souls. Finally, the prodigies which are found in the Lives of the Saints have always been considered as indubitable facts amongst the faithful ; the Church recognizes them, and they form one of the objects of

• Spicil Dacher, torn. 5, p. no. t S. Aug. Confess., lib. 9, cap. 7.

X De Civ. Dei, lib. 22, cap. 8. $ Concil. General. Labb., torn. 5, p. 835.

I Grey. Turon, de Mirac. S. Martini, lib. I, cap. 1 1.

their piety and devotion ; no one is placed in the catalogue of saints whose sanctity has not been attested from heaven, by means of miracles ; and she takes such rigoj"ous precautions, and carries their strictness so fer,* that, according to all human prudence, it is impossible she should be deceived.

We now ask whether it can be permitted to think and to say that such facts are absolutely false, and should only be looked upon as febles unworthy of credence ? In such case it would be necessary to abrogate the rule judiciously and universally received in the world, that facts which have nothing incredible in themselves are not to be controverted when duly proved ; it would be also necessary to refuse credence to all that is related in sacred and profane history ; to lay down as a maxim to believe nothing but what we see, and to refuse to receive the testimony of the honorable people with whom we live. Now, this is what is requisite to prove and convince every man of good sense that the prejudice against the miracles of the Lives of the Saints is quite unreasonable ; but this does not point out its quality sufficiently : it is senseless and ridiculous, it is rash, and, what is more, it is dangerous.

The Protestants are opposed to these marvels, as, indeed, they are to almost everj-thing that is religious. They do not call in question the. evidence: on the contrary, they produce it, and we find it correctly set forth by the Centuriators of Magdeburg, in each century ; but, because it was confirmatory of the truth of the Catholic Church and its dogmas, which they did not choose to believe, they affected to say that the narratives were fabulous, or delusions of the devil. They were even daring enough to say that the fathers of the Church were either imposed upon, or impostors ; they cast aside all tradition ; the saints were considered as visionaries, and th^y turned into ridicule canonizations grounded on miracles.

Catholics ought to be cautious in adopting anything coming from heretics ; their opinions are almost always contagious. This is apparent in systems, which, so to express it, border on theirs, and lead, in a course of reasoning, to erroneous conclusions, which indeed are denied, but without being able to show that they are inconsistent We admit that all those who are prejudiced against the marvels in the Lives of the Saints, do not go so far as the Protestants do: the excesses of the latter, however, are the natural, necessary, and almost immediate, consequences of such prejudices.

• In the life of the Blessed John Francis Regis, of the Society of Jesus, Father Daubenton, of the same Society, Confessor to H. M. Catholic Majesty, mentions an anecdote of an English gentleman, a Protestant, which shows the scrupulous exactness of the Holy See, in the verification of miracles. — Book vi., p. 334, in (quarto.

i

Whoever denies what the Others of the Giarch attest as having seen, or having been authentically informed of, must conclude that they were either vexy credulous, or deceived the people. To refuse to believe the marvels which have reached us by an uniform and universal tradition, is to call in question all tradition; to render all its channels suspicious, and to cause it to be looked upon as a questionable proposition. What can be thought of the saints, if the miraculous graces, which they certify that they have received from God, are to be treated as chimeras; if the accomplishment of what they have foretold, is to be attributed to chance ? What even can be thought of their most heroic victims ? What opinion will be formed of their acts ? Will they be deemed more trustworthy in other matters ? When it is asserted that there have been no miracles since the da}^ of the apostles, it must be said, by a necessary consequence, that the Church, which grounds canonization on miracles, makes use of falsehood in that most solemn and religious act, and that the public worship which the Church directs is uncertain. Now this very much resembles heresy ; for the great principles of religion teach us * that on these occasions the Church receives peculiar enlightenment from the Holy Ghost, by which she can neither be deceived herself, nor can she deceive others.