When the boy saw that he was cured, he began to cry at the top of his voice, telling everyone what had happened.

⁴ In the city of Capua a woman vowed to visit the tomb of blessed Francis in person. Because of the press of her household matters, she forgot her vow and suddenly lost the use of her right side. On account of pinched nerves she was unable to turn her head or arm in certain directions. So overrun with pain was she that she wore her neighbors out with her constant wailing. Two of the brothers happened to pass by her home, and at a priest's request they stopped to visit the pitiful woman. She confessed to them her unfulfilled vow, and when she received their blessing, she right away arose healthy. And now that she was wiser, for her penance, she fulfilled her vow without delay.

⁵ Bartholomew of Narni was sleeping in the shade of a tree when a diabolical seizure left him without use of a leg and a foot. Since he was a very poor man, he knew not where to turn. But that lover of the poor, Francis, God's standard bearer, appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to go to a certain place. He set out to drag himself there, but had left the direct route when he heard a voice saying to him: "Peace be with you! I am the one to whom you vowed yourself." Then leading him to the spot, that he might be seen by him, he placed one hand upon his foot and the other upon his leg, and thus restored his crippled limbs. This man was advanced in years and had been crippled for six years.

⁶ In the city of Capua a lad was playing carelessly with his friends on the bank of the river Volturno. From the bank he fell into the deep. The force of the river ^{Ps 46:5 [Vulgate, Ps 45:5]} quickly swallowed him up and buried him dead beneath the gravel. The children who had been playing with him shouted, and many men and women ran quickly to the spot. When they heard the children's story they cried out in mourning, "Saint Francis, return the boy to his father and grandfather: they are your hard-working servants!" Indeed the boy's father and grandfather had contributed all they could to build a church in honor of Saint Francis. Everyone was beseeching and invoking the patronage of Saint Francis. Some distance away a swimmer heard their cries and approached them. He learned that a good hour had passed since the boy fell into the river. He invoked the name ^{Acts 22:16} of Christ and the merits of Saint Francis, then undressed and flung himself naked into the river. Since he did not know where the boy had fallen in, he began to search back and forth from banks to depths. Finally by the grace of God he found the place where mud had covered over the cadaver like a grave. He dug and dragged

 Previous

Next