Of the holy Friar James of Fallerone; and how after his death he appeared to Friar John of Alvernia
WHAT time Friar James of Fallerone, a man of great sanctity, lay grievously sick in the Place of Moliano in the district of Fermo, Friar John of Alvernia, who was then sojourning at the Place of Massa, heard of his sickness, and, in that he loved him as his dear father, he betook himself to prayer for him, beseeching God devoutly with heartfelt prayers that He would give Friar James health of body if it were good for his soul; and, as he prayed thus devoutly, he was rapt in ecstasy and beheld, in the air, a great army of saints and angels, above his cell which was in the wood; and so great was the brightness of them that all the district round about was illuminated thereby; and among those angels he saw that sick Friar James, for whom he was praying, [ p. 134 ] clad in white and shining raiment. Also he saw among them the blessed father St. Francis, adorned with the holy stigmata of Christ and with great glory. Also he saw there and recognised the holy Friar Lucidus, and ancient Friar Matthew of Monte Rubbiano and many other friars, whom he had never seen or known in this life. And while Friar John thus gazed with great delight upon that blessed company of saints, the salvation of the soul of the said sick friar was certainly revealed to him; and that he must die of that sickness, but that he might not go to paradise immediately after his death, since it was first necessary that he should cleanse himself a little while in purgatory. At which revelation Friar John had such great joy, by reason of the salvation of his soul, that he recked nothing at all of the death of his body; but, with great sweetness of spirit, called unto him within himself, saying: “Friar James, sweet father mine; Friar James, sweet brother; Friar James, most faithful servant and friend of God; Friar James, companion of angels and associate of the blessed”. And so, in this certainty and joy he returned to himself, and went to visit the said Friar James at Moliano; and finding him so weighed down with sickness, that scarcely was he able to speak, he announced to him the death of his body and the salvation and glory of his soul, according to the certainty which he had thereof, through the Divine revelation; whereat Friar James, all joyful in heart and face, received him with great gladness and with jocund laughter, thanking him for the good news which he had brought him, and devoutly commending himself to him. Then Friar John besought him tenderly that, after his death he would return to him and tell him of his state; and Friar James promised him so to do, if it should be God’s will. And, when he had thus spoken, the [ p. 135 ] hour of his passing drew nigh; and Friar James began to recite devoutly the verse of the Psalm: In pace in idipsum dormiam et resquiescam; which is to say: “In peace shall I sleep and take my rest in the life eternal”; and when he had recited this verse, with glad and happy face he passed from this life. And, after he was buried, Friar John returned to the Place of Massa, and awaited the fulfilment of the promise of Friar James that he would return to him on the day that he had said. But, on the said day, as he was praying, Christ appeared to him with a great company of angels and saints; and Friar James was not among them: wherefore Friar John marvelled greatly and commended him devoutly to Christ. Thereafter, on the following day, while Friar John was praying in the wood, Friar James appeared to him, accompanied by angels, all glorious and all glad; and Friar John said unto him: “O dearest father, why didst thou not return to me on the day that thou didst promise me?” Friar James made answer: “Because I had need of some purgation; but in that same hour wherein Christ appeared to thee, and thou didst commend me to Him, Christ gave ear unto thy prayer and delivered me from all pain, and at that time I appeared to Friar James of Massa, that holy lay-brother, who was serving the Mass and saw the consecrated Host, when the priest elevated it, transmuted and changed into the likeness of a very beautiful living Child: and to him I said: ‘To-day I go with this Child to the kingdom of life eternal, whereunto none may go without him’”. And, when he had said these words Friar James vanished away, and departed into heaven with all that blessed company of angels; and Friar John remained much consoled. The said Friar James of Fallerone died on the Vigil of St. James the Apostle, in the month of July, in the aforesaid [ p. 136 ] Place of Moliano; wherein, after his death, the Divine Goodness wrought many miracles, through his merits.
Of the vision of Friar John of Alvernia whereby he understood all the order of the Holy Trinity
THE aforesaid Friar John of Alvernia, in that he had perfectly suffocated every worldly and temporal delight and consolation, and had set all his joy and all his hope in God, was given marvellous consolations and revelations by the Divine Goodness, and especially on the festivals of Christ; wherefore, on a time when the Festival of the Nativity of Christ drew nigh, whereon he looked with confidence to receive from God consolation of the sweet humanity of Jesus, the Holy Ghost put in his heart such great and exceeding love and fervour for the charity of Christ, whereby He humbled Himself to take upon Him our humanity, that of a verity it seemed to him that his soul was drawn forth from his body and that it burned like a furnace. Whereupon, not being able to endure such ardours, he was in agony and altogether melting away, and cried out with a loud voice; because, through the violent impulse of the Holy Ghost and through the too great fervour of love, he could not restrain himself from crying out. And in that hour wherein this measureless fervour came upon him, there came therewith so sure and certain a hope of salvation that, for nothing in the world, could he believe that, if he were then to die, he must pass through the pains of purgatory; and this love endured with him for six full months, albeit he felt not that excessive fervour continually, but it came [ p. 137 ] upon him at certain hours of the day. And during this time he received marvellous visitations and consolations from God; and oftentimes he was rapt in ecstasy, even as that friar, who first wrote of these things, saw. Among the which times, he was one night so elevated and rapt in God that he beheld in Him, the Creator, all created things, both celestial and terrestrial, and all their perfections and grades and separate orders. And then he clearly understood how every created thing represented its Creator, and how God is above, and within, and outside, and beside all created things. Thereafter, he discerned one God in Three Persons, and Three Persons in one God, and the infinite charity which caused the Son of God to become incarnate in obedience to the Father. And, finally, he perceived, in that vision, how that there was no other way whereby the soul could go to God and have eternal life, save only through Christ the blessed, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life of the soul.
How, while he was saying Mass, Friar John of Alvernia fell down as if he were dead
TO the said Friar John in the aforesaid Place of Moliano, according to that which the friars who were there present related, there befel on a time this marvellous case: On the first night after the octave of St. Laurence and within the octave of the Assumption of Our Lady, having said matins in the church with the other friars, the unction of the Divine grace fell upon him and he betook himself to the garden to meditate on the Passion of Christ, and to prepare [ p. 138 ] himself with all devotion to celebrate the Mass which, that morning, it fell to his turn to sing; and, while he meditated on the words of the consecration of the body of Christ, considering the infinite love of Christ, by reason whereof He not only willed to redeem us with His precious blood, but also to leave us, for spiritual food, His body and most excellent blood, the love of the sweet Jesus began to increase in him, with so great fervour and with such tenderness, that his soul might no more endure for the great sweetness which he felt; but he cried aloud and, as one drunken in spirit, never ceased to say within himself: Hoc est corpus meum; for, as he said these words, it seemed to him that he beheld the blessed Christ, with the Virgin Mary and with a multitude of angels, and, in thus speaking, he was illuminated by the Holy Spirit touching all the profound and lofty mysteries of that most exalted sacrament. And, when day broke, he entered into the church, in that fervour of spirit and with that anxiety and with those words upon his lips, not thinking to be heard or seen by any one; but there was in the choir a certain friar, who was praying; and who saw and heard all. And, not being able to restrain himself in that fervour, through the abundance of the Divine grace, he cried with a loud voice, and continued after this manner until it was time to say the Mass; and thereupon he went to make himself ready for the altar. And, when he began the Mass, the farther he proceeded the more did there increase in him the love of Christ, and that fervour of devotion, wherewith there was given unto him an ineffable sense of God’s presence, the which he himself knew not, nor was afterward able to express with his tongue. Wherefore, fearing that that fervour and sense of God’s presence would increase so much that he would be compelled to leave the Mass, [ p. 139 ] he stood in great perplexity, knowing not what to do, whether to proceed further with the Mass or to stop and wait. But, because, once before, a like case had befallen him, and the Lord had so tempered that fervour that he had not been obliged to leave the Mass, he trusted, at this time also, to he able to do the like, and, with great fear, set himself to continue the Mass until he came to the Preface of Our Lady, when the Divine illumination and the gracious sweetness of the love of God increased so much within him, that, reaching the Qui pridie, scarcely might he endure such joy and sweetness. Finally, coming to the act of consecration, and having spoken half of the words over the Host, to wit Hoc est; on nowise might he proceed farther, but continued to repeat these same words, to wit Hoc est enim; and the reason wherefore he could not proceed farther was that he felt and saw the presence of Christ with a multitude of angels, whose majesty he might not endure; and he saw that Christ entered not into the Host, neither was the Host transformed into the body of Christ, because he could not utter the other half of the words, to wit corpus meum. Wherefore, while he abode in this anxiety and could proceed no farther, the Guardian and the other friars, and also many lay folk, which were in the church to hear Mass, drew nigh unto the altar, and there stood, terrified to behold and to consider the action of Friar John; and many of them wept for devotion. At the last, after a long time, to wit when God willed it, Friar John pronounced the enim corpus meum with a loud voice; and straightway the form of the bread vanished away, and on the Host appeared Jesus Christ the blessed, incarnate and glorified, and manifested unto him the humility and charity which caused Him to become incarnate of the Virgin Mary, [ p. 140 ] and which causes Him to come every day into the hands of the priest when he consecrates the Host; for the which cause he was yet more lifted up in sweetness of contemplation. Thereafter, when he had elevated the Host and the consecrated chalice, he was rapt out of himself and, his soul being raised above corporal feelings, his body fell backwards, and, if he had not been held up by the guardian, who stood behind him, he had fallen supine to the ground. Wherefore there ran thither the friars and the lay folk who were in the church, both men and women, and he was carried by them into the sacristy, as one dead, for his body was all cold and the fingers of his hands were clenched so tightly that scarcely could they be unclosed or moved at all. And on this wise he lay swooning or rapt even until Terce; and it was summer-time. And because I, who was there present, desired greatly to know that which God had wrought upon him, as soon as he had returned to himself, I went to him, and besought him, for the love of God, that he would tell me everything; wherefore, because he trusted me much, he narrated everything to me in order; and, among other things, he told me that, while he was considering the body and blood of Jesus Christ there present, his heart became even as wax which is melted in a great heat, and his flesh appeared to be without bones, on such wise that scarcely might he raise his arms and his hands to make the sign of the cross over the Host and over the chalice. Also he told me that, or ever he became a priest, it had been revealed to him by God that he must swoon during the Mass; but, because he had already said many Masses and this had not befallen him, he deemed that the revelation had not been of God. Nevertheless, perhaps fifty days before the Assumption of Our Lady, whereon the aforesaid [ p. 141 ] case befel him, it had been again revealed unto him of God that this thing would befal him about the said feast of the Assumption; but thereafter he remembered not the said vision, or revelation, made to him by our Lord.