Miracles of St. Francis of Assisi | 16-6

Many Women saved from the Reproductive problems.

A certain Countess in Sclavonia, illustrious for her birth, and an imitator of the virtues of St. Francis, was full of devotion towards him, and of great piety and charity towards his whole Order.

Having come once upon a time to the hour of her delivery, she endured such terrible and grievous pains, that it seemed as if the birth of the child must be the death of the mother.

It seemed that the child could not obtain its life but by the sacrifice of the life of the mother, and that the hour of her delivery must be the hour of her death.

Being in such peril, a thought came into her mind of the fame, the virtue, and the glory of St. Francis, which so excited her faith and inflamed her devotion that she turned to him, the effectual and faithful friend, the consolation of the devout, and the refuge of the afflicted:

“St. Francis,” she said, “all my bones supplicate thy mercy, and with my heart I vow to thee what with my lips I cannot express.”

Oh! Marvellous and speedy effect of piety! The end of her speech was the end also of her sorrow, and the beginning of her labour was the end thereof; for her pains immediately ceased, and she brought forth her child in safety.

Nor was she forgetful of her vow, or unfaithful to her promise. For, she built a fair church in honour of the Saint, and gave it to the Friars of his Order.

There was a woman in the neighbourhood of Rome, named Beatrice, who had borne for four days a dead child within her womb, and was suffering the agonies of death. That which was already dead was bringing the mother to death.

The physicians tried their art in vain, but all human remedy seemed fruitless, so that the curse of Eve had fallen with unwonted severity upon the head of this unhappy woman, who, having become the sepulchre of her child, was fast hastening to her own.

At last she commended herself with great devotion to the Friars Minor, beseeching them with full faith to send her some relic of St. Francis.

By the will of God they found a piece of cord, with which the Saint had girded himself, which was no sooner laid upon the woman than she was delivered of the dead child, which had brought her nigh to death, and restored to her former health.

Guiliana, the wife of a nobleman of Como, was full of sorrow at the death of her children, and wept continually over her unhappy case,

because all the children whom with great sorrow she had brought forth, in a short space of time, with no less sorrow, she saw carried forth to their grave.

Being now within five months of her delivery, because of the misfortune which had befallen her other children, she was more solicitous concerning the death of her expected infant than concerning its birth; therefore she faithfully besought the blessed Father Francis for the life of her unborn child.

And behold, as she was asleep one night, a woman appeared to her, bearing a beautiful child in her arms, which with a joyful countenance she presented to her.

And when she refused to receive it, fearing lest she should forthwith lose it again, the woman said to her, "Take it, and fear not, for St. Francis, who has had pity on thy sorrow, hath sent it to thee; the child shall live and gladden thee by its health.”

Then the lady awoke, and understood by this vision from heaven that the aid of St. Francis would be present with her, and being filled with great joy, she began to pray more intensely and fervently for the child which had been promised her.

When the time came that she should bring forth, the lady gave birth to a boy, who, by his infantine strength and beauty, seemed to have received the food of life by the merits of St. Francis; and thus were his parents excited to a still greater devotion towards Christ and His Saint.

A similar grace was bestowed by the Holy Father in the city of Tivoli:

A woman there, who had already many daughters, having a great desire for a son, began to offer prayers and vows to St. Francis. By his merits, the woman who had prayed for one son only, gave birth to two.

A woman at Viterbo, who was near her delivery, seemed nearer still to her death, being tormented with every kind of sorrow and pain, to which women are subject at such times.

When nature seemed sinking under them, and every art of medicine had been tried in vain, the woman called upon the name of St. Francis, and was forthwith safely delivered.

Having obtained her desire, she forgot the benefit received, and instead of paying due honour to the Saint, she began to work on his festival,

when, behold! Her right arm, which she had stretched forth to labour, remained withered and stiff. When she tried to draw it towards her with the other hand that also, by a similar punishment, was dried up.

The woman being seized with fear from on high, renewed her vow, and by the merits of the merciful and humble Saint, to whom she again commended herself, she recovered the use of her limbs, which by her contempt and ingratitude she had lost.

Another woman, from the neighbourhood of Arezzo, had been seven days in the perils of child-birth; she had already turned black, and being given over by all, she devoted herself to St. Francis, and began to invoke his aid in death.

She had no sooner done so than she fell asleep, and in a dream beheld St. Francis, who spoke to her most sweetly, asking her whether she knew him, and whether she could say the Salve Regina in honour of the Glorious Virgin.

When she replied that she knew it, “Begin,” said the Saint, “the Sacred Antiphon, and before thou hast finished it thou shalt bring forth in safety.”

At these words the woman awoke, and began with great fear to say the Salve Regina, and and made mention of the Fruit of that virginal womb, she was immediately delivered from all her pains,

and brought forth a beautiful infant, giving thanks to the Queen of Mercy, who, by the merits of blessed Francis, had vouchsafed to have compassion on her.