⁴A judge named Alessandro, who led away as many as he could from devotion to blessed Francis, was deprived of speech by divine judgment, and for six years was mute. Tormented by the very things through which he sinned, great repentance overcame him, and he was sorry that he had ridiculed the saint's miracles. So the merciful saint's anger did not last, and he restored his favor by repairing the man's speech, since he was repentant and humbly invoked him. From then on the judge dedicated his blasphemous tongue to praise of the saint, accepting both discipline and devotion instead of suffering.

Chapter X
SOME OTHER MIRACLES OF DIFFERENT KINDS

¹In the town of Gagliano in the diocese of Valva a woman named Maria subjected herself devoutly to the service of Christ Jesus and Saint Francis. One day during the summer she went out to acquire with her own hands the food she needed. The heat was unbearable and she began to faint from thirst, having nothing to drink, since she was alone on a mountain that was totally deprived of water. Lying nearly lifeless on the ground, she began intently to call upon her patron, Saint Francis, with pious spiritual feeling. As the woman persevered in humble and deeply-felt prayer, in her exhaustion from work, thirst, and heat, she drifted off to sleep. And there was Saint Francis, who called her by name. "Get up," he said, "and drink the water that is provided by divine gift for you and for many!" On hearing the sound the woman, strengthened, got up from her sleep. She grabbed a fern next to her and plucked it from the earth. Digging around it with a twig, she found living water and what first seemed alittle drop grew into a spring ^{Est 10:6} through divine power. The woman drank, and when she had had enough, she washed her eyes, which earlier had been clouded by a long illness, and from that moment she felt them flooded with new light. The woman ran home and told everyone about the great miracle, to the glory of Saint Francis. At the news  of the miracle many came running from every direction, and learned by their own experience the marvelous power of this water. For on contact with it, after confession, many were freed of the affliction of their illnesses. That clear spring still flows, and a chapel in honor of blessed Francis has been built there.

²In the Spanish town of San Facondo against all hope he marvelously restored leaves, blossoms, and fruit to a man's dried up cherry tree.

He freed the people of an area near Villesilos by his miraculous help from an infestation of worms that were destroying the nearby vineyards.

 Previous

Next 

4 ¹Iudex quidam, nomine Alexander, dum a beati Francisci devotione, quos poterat, venenata lingua retraheret, divino iudicio lingua privatus, per sex annos obmutuit. ²Qui cum in eo quo peccaverat, torqueretur, alta poenitudine revocatus, dolebat se contra Sancti miracula oblatrasse. ³Itaque non perstitit misericordis indignatio Sancti, sed poenitentem ac se humilitet invocantem, restituta loquela, recepit ad gratiam. ⁴Ex tunc linguam blasphemam consecravit laudibus Sancti, devotionem simul et disciplinam recipiens per fiagellum.

X
De quibusdam aliis miraculis diversimodi generis.

1 ¹In castro Galiani Valvensis dioecesis mulier erat quaedam, Maria nomine, quae Christo Iesu et sancto Francisco famulatu devoto subiecta, una dierum aestivo tempore exiit, ut manibus conquireret propriis necessarium victum. ²Cum igitur, fervente nimium aestu, sitis deficere coepisset ardoribus, omni privata beneficio poculi, pro eo quod in monte arido sola esset, quasi exanimis humi prostrata, patronum suum sanctum Franciscum invocabat pio mentis affectu. ³Dum autem perseveraret mulier in affectuosa et humili prece, labore, siti et aestu fatigata quam plurimum, paululum obdormivit. ⁴Et ecce, sanctus Franciscus adveniens et eam vocans ex nomine: « Surge », inquit, « et bibe aquam, quae divino munere tibi ac pluribus exhibetur ». ⁵Ad huius vocis auditum surrexit mulier a somno, non modicum confortata, et accipiens filicem, quae iuxta se erat, radicitus evulsit a terra, effodiensque ligno parvulo circumquaque, viventem reperit aquam, quae cum primo videretur parvula stilla, subito divina virtute crevit in fontem. ⁶Bibit itaque mulier et satiata oculos lavit, quos cum longa prius haberet aegritudine obumbratos, nova ex tunc sensit luce perfusos. ⁷Festinavit ad domum mulier, tam stupendum miraculum ad gloriam sancti Francisci denuntians universis. ⁸Concurrerunt undique multi ad miraculi famam, experientia magistra discentes mirabilem illius aquae virtutem, dum ad ipsius contactum, confessione praemissa, a variis morborum cladibus plurimi liberantur. ⁹Perseverat usque hodie fons ibi perspicuus, et in honorem beati Francisci ibidem oratorium est constructum.

2 ¹In Hispania apud Sanctum Facundum viri cuiusdam cerasum arefactam ad virorem frondium, florum et fructuum contra spem mirabiliter revocavit.

²Incolas quoque terrae apud Villam Silos a vermium peste corrodentium vineas circumquaque miraculoso suffragio liberavit.