Miracles of St. Francis of Assisi | 16-3

Many saved from the Danger of Death.

In the neighbourhood of the city of Rome there was a certain nobleman, named Ridolpho, whose wife was very devout to God, and he often received the friars minor, not only from the virtue of hospitality, but out of reverence and love for the blessed Francis.

It happened one night that the warder of the castle, who watched on its highest tower, had laid down to rest upon a heap of wood, which becoming loose, began to fall, and thus the poor man fell with it, first upon the palace roof, and thence to the ground.

The noise of the fall awakened the whole family, and at the news of the warder’s accident, the lord of the castle, with his lady, and the friars, came in haste to the spot;

but he who had fallen from so great a height was in so deep a sleep that he was not awakened, either by the noise of the wood which continued to fall or by the loud cries of the family, who came together to the spot.

At last, being awakened by those who pushed and pulled him, he began to lament and complain that he had been awakened from a sweet and quiet sleep, declaring that he had been sleeping most sweetly in the arms of the blessed Francis.

But when they showed him from how great a height he had fallen to the ground, seeing that he was at the bottom of the tower, at the top of which he had laid down,

he was astonished at what had happened to him while he was wholly unconscious of it; and he promised, in the presence of all, to do penance to the honour of God and St. Francis.

In a city called Pofo, in Campagna, a priest, named Thomas, wished to rebuild a mill which belonged to the Church,

and passing heedlessly along the edge of the canal, where the water was very deep, he suddenly and unexpectedly fell into it, and got entangled in the wheel which turned the mill;

and thus, being fastened to the wood, he was turned round and round, the water falling with great impetuosity upon his face, so that he had not breath to cry, but he invoked St. Francis in his heart,

and remaining thus for a long time stretched upon the wheel, his companions despaired of his life, when they saw the wheel going round with great violence, and the poor priest, struggling and panting, plunged thus miserably in the water.

And, behold, a Friar Minor, clothed in a white tunic, and girded with a cord, drew him very gently out of the water by the arm, saying, “I am Francis, whom thou hast invoked.”

The priest, seeing himself thus delivered, was filled with wonder, and wishing to kiss the feet of his deliverer, sought anxiously for him on every side, saying to his companions, “Where is he? Whither went the Saint?”

Then these men cast themselves trembling upon the ground, praising the glorious works of the great God, and the merits and virtues of His humble servant Francis.

A certain young man of Borgo-a-Celano went into the meadows to mow the grass:

In those meadows was an ancient well, covered with grass, which had so concealed its mouth that it was hidden from all passers-by, the depth of it being about four paces. The mowers coming together from different parts, one of them accidentally fell into this well.

While his body was buried therein, he raised his heart and mind on High to ask the aid of the blessed Francis, and as he was falling, cried out with faith and confidence, “St. Francis, help me I.”

The others, who were seeking him hither and thither, and could nowhere find him, began to lament over him with cries and tears. Having at last discovered that he had fallen into the well, they returned weeping to Borgo, to tell what had befallen him, and to ask help.

Returning to the place with a great multitude, they let down a rope into the well, and saw the young man sitting upon the water, having suffered no injury therefrom.

When he was drawn forth from the well, he said to all the bystanders:

“As soon as I fell I called for aid to the blessed Francis, who, as I was falling to the bottom, suddenly lifted me up with his hand, nor did he ever leave me until, together with you, he had drawn me out of the well.”

In the Church of St. Francis, in the city of Assisi, the Bishop of Ostia, who was afterwards Pope Alexander, was preaching before the Roman Court,

when a large and heavy stone, which had been inadvertently left over the high marble pulpit, suddenly fell upon the head of a lady, who was listening to the sermon.

All who were present, supposing that her head was broken, and that she was already dead, covered her with a mantle which she had about her, that she might be carried forth to burial at the end of the sermon.

But she had faithfully commended herself to the blessed Francis, at the foot of whose altar she lay. And no sooner was the sermon ended, than the lady rose in presence of them all, in such perfect health that not the slightest sign of injury was visible.

And what is more marvellous still, having for many years before suffered almost continually from intense pain in the head, she was from that day forward perfectly freed from that infirmity, as she herself afterwards testified.

In the city of Cometo, a bell was to be founded for the Friars Minor; certain devout men came see it, and among them a boy of eight years old, named Bartholomew, was bringing refreshments to the friars who were labouring at the work.

Suddenly, a violent wind arose, which shook the roof, and lifted the door from its hinges;

it was very large and heavy, and fell with such violence upon the boy that, as all believed, he was crushed beneath its weight; it so entirely covered him, that no part of his body was visible.

All who were present ran to the spot, invoking the power of the blessed right hand of St. Francis. But the father, whose limbs had become cold and rigid with grief, being unable to move, offered his son with loud cries and prayers to St. Francis.

The heavy weight was at last raised from the body of the child, and, behold, he who was supposed to be dead appeared all smiling, as if he had just awoke from sleep, and bearing no mark of injury.

When he had attained his fourteenth year, he joined the Order of Friars Minor, and became a learned and famous preacher.

The men of the city of Lantino had cut a great stone from a mountain, which was to be placed under the altar in the Church of St. Francis, then about to be consecrated;

about forty men were employed to place the said stone upon a cart, and having several times endeavoured to do so with all their strength, the stone fell upon one of them, who was buried beneath it.

Not knowing what to do, and being all confounded in mind, the greater number departed in despair; ten alone remained, who lamentably called upon St. Francis, praying him that he would not suffer any one to perish thus horribly in his service;

at last they took courage, and raised the stone with so much ease, that no one doubted the presence of the power of St. Francis, and the man arose alive and sound in all his limbs;

and, moreover, having been before short-sighted, he recovered the full and clear use of his eyes, so that all might know how mighty are the merits of St. Francis in the most desperate cases.

A similar thing happened near San Severino, in the marches of Ancona. A number of men were drawing an immense stone, brought from Constantinople, for the Church of St. Francis:

The stone suddenly fell upon one of them; and while the rest believed that he was not only dead but crushed to pieces, by the help of the blessed Francis, who raised the stone, the man arose safe and well.

Bartholomew, a citizen of Gaeta, had laboured much to build a church in honour of St. Francis, when a beam, which had been insecurely fastened, fell and grievously hurt him.

Feeling that his head was broken, and that he was nigh unto death, he, being a devout and pious man, besought one of the friars to bring him the most Holy Sacrament.

The friar, fearing that there would not be time, because his death was so near at hand, said to him, in the words of St. Augustine: “Believe, and thou hast eaten.”

On the following night St. Francis appeared to him, in company with eleven friars, bearing a lamb in his bosom; and standing by the bed, he called him by his name:

“Bartholomew,” he said, “fear not, for the enemy can do nothing against thee. He has sought to hinder thee in my service, but behold the Lamb for whom thou didst ask, whom by reason of thy good desire thou hast received, and by whose power thou shalt likewise obtain the healing both of thy body and thy soul.”

And then, laying his hand upon the wounds, he commanded him to return on the morrow to the work he had begun.

Then, in the morning, he arose very early, and showing himself to those who had left him for dead, they were filled with wonder and admiration to behold him full of joy and health, and were excited by his example, and by the sight of the miracle, to great love and reverence for the blessed Father.

A man of Ceperano, named Nicolas, fell one day into the hands of some cruel enemies, who inflicted many terrible wounds upon him, and then left him at the point of death.

As soon as he felt himself wounded, Nicolas began to cry with a loud voice, “St. Francis, help me! St. Francis, aid me!” and these cries were heard by many who were at too great a distance to be able to help him.

He was brought to his house, all bathed in his own blood, yet he confidently affirmed that he should not die of those wounds, and that he then felt no pain from them, for that St. Francis had helped him, and had obtained for him from the Lord time to do penance for his sins.

And the truth of his words was confirmed by what came to pass. For, when the blood was washed away, the man, contrary to all human expectation, was found free from injury.

The son of a nobleman at Geminiano was suffering under a grievous and hopeless malady, which had reduced him to extreme misery.

A stream of blood flowed continually from his eyes, such as is wont to issue from the opening of a vein in the arm; and all other indications of approaching death appearing, he lay devoid of power, sense, or motion, so that he was believed by all to be in his agony.

The parents and friends, according to custom, gathered together weeping, and discoursed concerning his burial;

but his father, having faith in the Lord, hastened to the Church of St. Francis, which was near to the place, and placing a cord round his neck, humbly prostrated himself upon the ground, and with many prayers, tears, and sighs, besought St. Francis to be his advocate with Christ.

No sooner had the father returned home, than his weeping was turned to joy, for he found his son restored to perfect health.

A similar miracle was wrought by the Lord, through the merits of the Saint, on a maiden in a town called Thamarit, not far from Ancona, in Catalonia,

who, being near to death from the extremity of her sickness, was restored to perfect health when her parents devoutly invoked the blessed Francis.

A certain clerk at Vico-Albo, named Matthew, having drunk of some poisonous drink, lost the use of his speech, and seemed at the last extremity. A priest came to hear his confession, but he could not utter a single word.

But having humbly raised his heart to Christ, he besought Him, by the merits of the blessed Francis, to deliver him from the jaws of death.

Immediately, being strengthened by the Lord, he pronounced the name of St. Francis. With faithful devotion, and having rejected the poison in the presence of many witnesses, he returned thanks to his deliverer.