The Lame [Chapter XXXVIII]

55. ¹A certain Petruccio of the village of Bettona, who was wasted away with sickness for three years, seemed to be totally drained by the force of such an enervating illness. ²He had also been crippled by the violence of sickness to his kidneys that, always bent over and turned toward the ground, he could hardly walk even with a cane.

³The boy's father tried the skill of many doctors, especially those who had expertise in treating broken bones. ⁴He was prepared to spend all his wealth to recover the boy's health. ⁵When he was told that help could not be provided for that illness by their skills, he turned to the help of the new saint of whose miracles he had just heard.

⁶The boy was carried to the place where the precious remains of the virgin were resting, remained before her grave for a while, and received the grace of perfect health. ⁷He stood upright and healthy without delay, walking, jumping about, and praising God, ^{Acts 3:8} and invited the crowd of people to the praises of Saint Clare.

56. ⁸There was a ten-year-old boy from Villa of San Quirico, in the diocese of Assisi, who was crippled from his mother's womb. ^{Acts 3:2a} He had shinbones that were weak, walked crookedly with his feet turned at angles, and was hardly capable of getting up when he had fallen. ⁹His mother had offered him many times to Saint Francis but did not receive any help for his improvement. ¹⁰Hearing, however, that the blessed Clare was radiant with new miracles, she took the boy to the saint's burial place. ¹¹After a few days, when the shinbones had made some noise, the limbs were restored to their correct position, ¹²and that which Saint Francis had not granted even though he had been implored with many prayers, his disciple Clare achieved through divine power.^b

57. ¹³A citizen of Gubbio, Giacomo di Franco, having a five-year-old boy who had never walked or been able to use his weak feet, deplored that boy as a public spectacle of his house and as a disgrace to his flesh. ¹⁴He was accustomed to sleep on the

 Previous

Next 

De contractis.

55 ¹Petriolus quidam de castro Bitoniae, trium annorum infirmitate consumptus, totus fere diutini languoris tabe desiccatus apparuit. ²Cuius violentia morbi adeo contractus erat in renibus, ut curvus semper et ad terram reflexus, vix cum baculo pergere posset.

³Explorat pater pueri multorum solertiam medicorum, illorum praecipue qui fractis ossibus medendi peritiam habebant. ⁴Paratus erat omnia bona sua. expendere pro recuperanda pueri sanitate. ⁵Cumque responderetur ab omnibus, nullius artis ope illi morbo posse succurri, ad novae Sanctae suffragia, cuius audiebat magnalia se convertit.

⁶Portatur puer ad locum ubi pretiosa virginis spolia requiescunt, et non diu ante sepulcrum iacens, perfectae sanitatis gratiam sumit. ⁷Confestim namque rectus et sanus exurgit, ambulans et exiliens, et laudans Deum, et ad sanctae Clarae laudes populum confluentem invitat.

56 ¹Erat puer decem annorum in villa S. Quirici Assisinatis dioecesis, claudus ex utero matris suae, tibias habebat exiles, pedes in transversum iactabat, et tortuose deambulans, vix poterat surgere cum cadebat. ²Mater eius beato Francisco pluries eum devoverat, nec ullius meliorationis opem acceperat. ³Audiens vero beatam Claram novis coruscare miraculis, ad sepulcrum eius puerum deportavit. ⁴Post aliquot dies sonantibus ossibus tibiarum ad naturalem rectitudinem sunt membra reducta, et quod sanctus Franciscus multis precibus exoratus non tribuit, sua discipula Clara divina virtute concessit.

57 ¹Civis Eugubinus nomine Iacobus de Franco, puerum quinquennem habens, qui debilibus pedibus numquam ambulaverat, nec poterat ambulare, tamquam ostentum suae domus, et opprobrium suae carnis ipsum puerum deplorabat. ²Cubitabat in solo,