PART 2
SAINT DOMINIC
2.2 His joyful patience, by which he converted a heretic
2.3 Drowned people rescued by his prayer
2.6 The rain he obtained from God
2.7 A man interrupts his preaching; his death foretold
2.8 A hungry brother for whom he obtained bread from heaven
2.9 His tunic which put out a fire
2.10 How he spoke German by a gift of God
2.11 The fervour of his prayer, by which he brought a brother back who was kidnapped
2.12 The boy brought back from near death and his mother healed of fever
2.13 How twice he went through closed doors to his brothers
2.14 The devil who threw a stone at him, but could not draw him away from prayer
2.15 The devil who made him break the night silence
2.16 The devil whom he found going through the rooms
2.17 The paper which the Saint took away from the devil
2.18 The style and fervour of the Blessed Man's prayer
2.19 The efficacy of his words and deeds
2.20 The bread multiplied
2.21 The guardian angels of the brothers, whom he saw
2.22 The gluttonous brother whom he delivered from demons
2.23 His compassion for sinners
2.24 Avoiding notice
2.25 His abstraction from exterior things
2.26 His study in the books of charity
2.27 The unchaste man healed at the smell of his hand
2.29 His companion, whom the deceased called to Christ
2.30 The absent student who saw him in glory
2.31 The demoniac who was cured at his grave
2.32 The brother who was healed of haemorrhoids and later from a rupture
2.33 The deaf nun who recovered her hearing
2.34 The documents of his canonization which were not destroyed by water
2.35 Those delivered from danger at sea
2.36 A holy nun miraculously cured
2.38 Wine increased by invoking him
2.39 A man suffering from dropsy cured by his medicine
2.40 A youth cured of scrofula
2.41 Some who were cured by the power of his relics
2.42 An every-third-day fever driven away by invoking him
2.43 An every-three-day fever driven away by invoking him
The compilers of the life of our Blessed Father Dominic left out many incidents they may have been ignorant of. (49) It should not seem a waste of time for us to gather them, like the remnants of a harvest.
One indication of his holiness is that he not only had respectable and pious parents, but also two brothers who were very perfect. One of them (50) was a priest who totally dedicated himself to the service of the poor by doing works of mercy in a hospital. His other brother, Manes, (51) was a contemplative and holy man; he served God long in the Order and at the end came to a happy rest. Besides, two of his nephews lived a holy and praiseworthy life in the Order.
2.2 His joyful patience, by which he converted a heretic
A public disputation with heretics was scheduled and the bishop planned to go to it with a pompous entourage. Dominic objected: "Not that way, Lord Father! That is not how we should go to meet such people. Heretics have to be convinced by the example of humility and other virtues, rather than by outward show or battles of words. So let us arm ourselves with devout prayer, and show them true signs of humility by going barefoot against this Goliath." The bishop accepted the man of God's advice, sent back his horsemen, and the two walked on, barefoot.
The place was many miles away; at a point they became unsure of the right road and asked the way from a man they thought was a Catholic, but really was a heretic. He said, "I will be happy not only to show you the way, but also to lead you to the place." So he maliciously led them astray through a bushy area full of thorns and brambles, and their feet and legs were covered with blood. The man of God bore all this most patiently and burst out into praise of God, urging them all to praise God and be patient. He said, "My dear friends, hope in the Lord, since victory will be ours, since even now our sins are being washed away in blood." Observing their wonderful and joyful patience, and touched by the good words of the man of God, the heretic confessed his poisonous deceit and renounced his heresy. When they came to the place, everything turned out well.
2.3 Drowned people rescued by his prayer
An old respectable citizen of Cahors told this story to the brothers, and was prepared to swear to it: While he was present with Count Simon de Montfort at the siege of Toulouse, he saw some English pilgrims on their way to the shrine of St. James. (52) To avoid excommunication, they avoided going through Toulouse and entered a boat to go by river. There were about forty of them, which was too much for the boat; it sank and they all were drowned. Not even their heads appeared over the water.
Blessed Dominic, who was praying in a church by the river was stirred by the shouts of the passers-by and of the soldiers stationed there. He went out, and when he saw what had happened, prostrated on the ground with his arms spread in the form of a cross, weeping bitterly and calling on God to deliver his pilgrims from death. After a short while he got up, mustered confidence in God, and commanded the victims in the name of Christ to come to the shore. A wonder happened, done by him "who alone does wonders" (Ps 72:18): Immediately, in the sight of all who were present at very sad scene, the victims surfaced from the depths. The citizens ran to them from everywhere, holding out spears and spikes to draw them out of the rough water. All were saved unharmed.
2.4 His books which had been three days in water and were hooked out undamaged
Blessed Dominic frequently went through the same region of Toulouse on preaching missions. Once he was crossing at a shallow spot a stream called Ariège. In the middle of the stream, the books, which he had put against his chest under his tunic when he tucked it up for the crossing, fell out. Praising God nevertheless, he went to the house of a good woman and told her how he lost his books.
Three days later a fisherman threw his hook into that stream and thought he had caught a fish, but pulled out those books. They were unharmed, as if they had been kept very carefully in a cabinet. What was more amazing was that the books were not covered by any cloth or leather to protect them. The woman mentioned above gladly collected the books and sent them to the Blessed Father at Toulouse.
One day he was travelling in that region with many brothers, and they had only one cruet of wine for lunch. The Blessed Father was sorry for some of them who were very delicate when they were in the world; so he told them to pour that bit of wine into a big jug and add plenty of water. Eight brothers drank to their fill of the water turned into very good wine, and there was wine left over.
2.6 The rain he obtained from God
When Blessed Dominic accepted the house at Segovia in Spain, one day he was preaching to a large crowd of people outside the walls of that city. He could tell that the people were dejected by sadness for lack of rain. Christmas was approaching and the farmers had still not sowed their fields. After the man of God, Dominic, began his sermon, he was inspired by heaven to make the following declaration: "Do not be worried, brothers, trust in God's mercy, because today the Lord will give you plenty of rain and your sadness will be turned into joy." At that time there was no sign of rain; instead, the whole sky was shining with the full light of the sun. As he went on preaching, such a heavy rain came down that the people could hardly get through the water back to their homes in the town. They all gave thanks to God, "who alone does wonders" (Ps 72:18), and who made the rain promised to his servant Dominic come so quickly.
2.7 A man interrupts his preaching; his death foretold
One feast day around the same time, the servant of God, Dominic, wanted to preach the word of God to the Council of the same town. After the assembly listened to letters sent to them by the reigning king, Dominic began: "Up to now, brothers, you were listening to the decrees of an earthly and mortal king; now listen to the commands of the heavenly and immortal King."
On hearing that, one noble man, displaying worldly contempt and an inflated carnal mind, refused to listen. Not only that, he indignantly declared, "Wouldn't it be a shame if that garrulous guy, by keeping us all day with his sermons, prevented us from having our dinner?" He then called for his horse and, all the while complaining, charged off to his house, which was nearby.
Dominic said to him, "Today you are going away, but before a year rolls by that horse on which you are riding will lose its rider, and you will not be able to get into that fortress of yours, with its tower and all its security, because your killer will be there waiting for you."
Subsequent events showed that these words expressed God's sentence; for, before a year went by, that noble man was set upon by his rivals, including his own son and cousin. He tried to make it to the tower which he had built, but at the very place where the sentence was delivered he was atrociously slaughtered.
2.8 A hungry brother for whom he obtained bread from heaven
The glorious Father then went back to Italy, accompanied by a lay brother named John. (53) While crossing the Alps in Lombardy, Brother John suddenly began to grow weak from hunger. He was so tired that he could not go further or even get up from the ground. The kind Father said to him, "What is the matter, son, that you cannot go on?" He said, "Holy Father, I am overcome by hunger." The Saint then told him, "Try, son, let us go a little further and we will reach a place where we can eat something." But the brother said he was was entirely worn out and could go nowhere.
The holy man, full of kindness, was moved with pity for the brother's misery, and turned to his usual refuge, a brief prayer to the Lord. He then turned to the brother and said, "Get up, brother, go over there, and bring back what you find. He got up, although with great difficulty, and walked as best he could to the place, about a stone's throw away. Getting there, he found a loaf of bread wrapped in a sparklingly white napkin. He picked it up and carried it back to the holy man of God, who commanded him to eat a little. His strength then came back. The man of God then asked him whether his hunger was gone and he could walk. He said that he was satisfied and could very well proceed on the journey, although a short while ago he could not move. "Then get up, son; wrap the rest of the bread in the napkin and put it back in the place you found it." He did so, and they continued on their journey.
After they went on some distance, the brother began to think, "My God, who put the bread there, or how did it get there? Wasn't I slow and ignorant, not to wonder about this and ask?" So he said to the Saint, "Holy Father, where did that bread come from, or who put it there?" Then, as a true lover and guardian of humility, the Saint asked the brother, "Son, did you eat enough?" "Yes." "If you ate enough, then thank God, as is proper, and don't ask any more questions." This Brother John later returned to Spain and told the story to the brothers there. Later he joined the brothers who were sent by the Pope (54) to Africa. He got to Morocco and there went to the Lord, having successfully lived out his life.
2.9 His tunic which put out a fire
In the town of Segovia there was a devout woman, who sometimes had the saint of God, Dominic, stay in her house. There he left a sack-cloth tunic, which he was using instead of a hair-shirt, once he found a very rough and prickly hair-shirt, such as he wished. The woman kept that tunic with devotion, storing it in a chest with her precious possessions, and she guarded it more carefully than she would a king's purple.
One day she happened to go out for some business and left the house alone and closed, but, either because of her haste or for some other reason, she left the fire on. It began to spread out of the fireplace, and burned everything that was on the floor of the house except the wooden chest in which the tunic was kept. Although it was in the midst of the blaze, it did not burn and was not even darkened by the smoke.
When the woman came back, she was stupefied by such a miracle. She gave thanks to God and to her guest, Blessed Dominic, who preserved from the fire with his tunic all her savings, which she also kept in the chest. She retained the sleeves of the tunic for her own devotion, but sent the rest to the brothers for safekeeping. It is still kept as a relic in the convent of brothers.
2.10 How he spoke German by a gift of God
As the Blessed Father was going from Toulouse to Paris, he passed through Roc-Amadour. There he devoutly spent the night in the church of Blessed Mary, together with his travelling companion, Brother Bertrand, a holy and devout man who was the first prior of the brothers of Provence. The next day they met on the road some German pilgrims who devoutly joined them when they heard them singing Psalms and the litany. When they came to any town they invited the brothers and took care of them bountifully. This went on for four days straight.
At last Blessed Dominic sorrowfully told his companion, "Brother Bertrand, my conscience bothers me because we are reaping material benefits from these pilgrims without sowing spiritual benefits. So, if you agree, let us kneel down and pray that the Lord may give us understanding of their language as well as the ability to speak it, so that we may announce to them the Lord Jesus." When they finished praying, to the amazement of the pilgrims, they spoke intelligible German. They walked on four more days with them, talking about the Lord Jesus, until they came to Orléans. Since the Germans were going to Chartres, they left them at the road going to Paris, humbly commending themselves to their prayers.
Later the Blessed Father said to Brother Bertrand, "Brother, we are now entering Paris, and if the brothers learn of the miracle that the Lord worked for us, they will consider us saints, although we are sinners. And if it gets out to the lay people, we will suffer much from vanity. So, under obedience I forbid you to tell anyone of this before my death." Brother Bertrand observed this, and after the death of the Blessed Father told the story to his devout brothers.
2.11 The fervour of his prayer, by which he brought a brother back who was kidnapped
The same Blessed Father received a young man from Apulia called Brother Thomas. Because of his innocence and simplicity, the Saint had such a great holy love for him that the brothers called him "the son of Blessed Dominic".
One day some companions of his, satellites of the devil, found an opportunity to take him by deceit and violence into a vineyard, remove his habit and dress him in lay clothes. His brothers heard of this and ran to their Father, saying, "See, your son is being brought back to the world by his companions!"
The Saint then went into the church and prostrated in prayer. It was not in vain, since the power of his prayer was shown by the effect. As soon as the young man was dressed with a shirt next to his skin, he began crying out loud, saying, "I am all on fire!" He could find no relief until the shirt was taken off him and he was dressed in his religious habit and brought back to the cloister. Afterwards the brother lived a long, useful and grace-filled life.
2.12 The boy brought back from near death and his mother healed of fever
The same Father was going through France and, coming to the town of Chatillon, stayed as a guest of the chaplain. While he was there the son of the chaplain's sister happened to fall from the sun terrace and lay almost dead, while his mother and relatives were weeping. Blessed Dominic felt sorry for them and prostrated himself in prayer and tears. He was answered by God and handed the boy back to his mother free of all injury. Their sadness was turned into joy, and the priest-uncle of the boy made a big feast, inviting many God-fearing people.
The mother of the boy, however, did not eat any of eel that was served, because she was suffering from four-day fever. Blessed Dominic then blessed a piece of eel and gave it to her in the name of Christ, saying, "Eat this in the power of the Lord Saviour." She ate it and was cured from every sign of fever.
2.13 How twice he went through closed doors to his brothers
The Blessed Father once came to a religious convent after all had gone to bed. Fearing to disturb them, he prostrated before the door with his companion and asked the Lord to provide for their needs without disturbing them. What a wonder! As they were prostrated outside they suddenly found themselves inside.
The same thing happened when he had been out disputing with heretics, together with a very devout Cistercian lay brother. They came in the evening to the door of a church and found it locked. After he prayed at the door, suddenly they found themselves inside, and spent the whole night in prayer.
2.14 The devil who threw a stone at him, but could not draw him away from prayer
One night the holy man was lying prostrate in prayer, when the devil, roused by envy, threw a big stone from the roof of the church. It smashed right next to him, even touching his cappa capuce, and echoed all over the church. That was to distract him from his absorption in prayer. The holy man, nevertheless, continued immobile in prayer, and the devil then wailed with a loud voice and went away confused.
2.15 The devil who made him break the night silence
He was at prayer while the brothers were sleeping, when the devil came in the shape of a brother pretending to pray before an altar. The Saint was surprised that a brother would stay after the bell had gone for the brothers to go to bed, and signalled to him with his hand to go to his cubicle. Bowing to him, the devil left.
After Matins, he warned the brothers not to stay in the church after the last bell. But that fake brother did the same thing a second and a third time. On the third night, while the devil was pretending to pray, the blessed man came up and rebuked him, saying, "That is very disobedient of you. How often have I said that no one should stay, and here I am catching you doing so the third time!" Then the devil roared laughing and said, "Now I have made you break the silence!" The holy man knew his tricks, and boldly replied, "Don't be so giddy, miserable creature, over a move that does not put you ahead; for I am above the law of silence, and can speak when I see fit." At that the devil went away confused.
2.16 The devil whom he found going through the rooms
Another time the Saint found the devil going through all the places in the house. When he asked what he was up to, the devil answered, "Because of the profit I gain there." "What profit do you gain in the dormitory?" "I make them sleep too much, get up late and miss some of the divine office; besides, when I can, I put images in their imagination and stimulate them sexually." Then he took him to the oratory and said, "What profit do you gain in such a holy place?" "Oh, I make many come late and leave early, and distract them during the service." Asked about the refectory, he said, "Who never eats too much or too little?" Brought to the visitor's room, he laughed out loud, "This place is entirely mine. Here they come to laugh at things, tell rumours, and talk in the wind." At last, when he was brought to the chapter room, he began to run away in horror, and said, "This place is hell to me, and whatever I gain elsewhere I lose it all here, because here the brothers are warned, they confess their faults, they are accused, they are punished and they are absolved; so this room I hate above all others.
2.17 The paper which the Saint took away from the devil
Another time the Saint found the devil holding a document in his iron-like fists, and reading it by the light of a lamp. Asked what he was reading, he said, "The sins of your brothers." So the Saint commanded him by the name of Christ to drop the paper, which he did. The Saint found many things on the paper which he then corrected his brothers about.
2.18 The style and fervour of the Blessed Man's prayer
John of Bologna, a good and discrete brother said that he kept vigil for seven nights to see what the Blessed Father did in the night, and told this about him: He prayed sometimes standing, sometimes kneeling, sometimes prostrate, and kept on until sleep grasped him. When he woke up, he went around visiting the altars. He went on this way until midnight. Then he very quietly visited the sleeping brothers, covering those who were uncovered. After that he went back to the church and continued praying.
The same brother said that he often served his Mass, and when he went to purify the chalice after communion, he often saw him shedding tears.
2.19 The efficacy of his words and deeds
Once he forbad Bertrand, his companion, from weeping over his own sins, telling him so weep rather for the sins of others. He said this because he observed that Bertrand was afflicting himself too much for his sins. His words were so powerful that from then on Bertrand wept abundantly for others' sins, but he could not weep for his own, even when he wanted to.
A money-lender once tried to hide his cheating from the Saint, and asked him for the Eucharist. He held out to him the sacred host, which immediately became like a burning coal on the man's tongue, so that the roaring fire that cooled the bodies of the three young men might burn the wickedness of that Chaldean.
The very religious Brother Reginald, penitentiary of the Pope and later Archbishop of Armagh, told that he was present at Bologna when the procurator came to the man of God, Dominic, and began to complain that he had only two loaves of bread to put before the huge community of brothers. Dominic, an imitator of the Lord, had it divided into small pieces, and blessed it with confidence in the Lord, who is "rich for (55) all who call him, and satisfies every living thing with favour" (Ps 145). He then had the waiter go around and put two or three pieces on each table. The waiter went around, but there was still some bread left; so he went around distributing to the brothers a second and a third time, and again the little remaining became much. He could only keep going around until all the brothers were satisfied. Much more was consumed by God's bounty than originally was plied by men.
2.21 The guardian angels of the brothers, whom he saw
A lawyer who was a citizen of Bologna entered the Order. His carnal friends wanted to pull him out by force. The brothers were afraid and wanted to ask some benefactors who were soldiers to guard the house, but Blessed Dominic said, "We don't need the help of soldiers, because I see more than two hundred angels around the church, who have been sent to guard the brothers." So the would-be kidnappers went away terrified and confused by a divine sign, and the novice had the consolation of remaining.
2.22 The gluttonous brother whom he delivered from demons
A brother who was assigned to take care of the sick at Bologna used to eat their left-over meat without permission. One evening after he had done so, he was seized by the devil and began to shout loud and terribly. As the brothers rushed to the scene, the Blessed Father came and had pity on the brother, who was extremely tormented. When he challenged the demon for entering the body of his brother, the devil answered, "I entered him because he deserved it; for he secretly and without permission ate meat belonging to the sick, contrary to the ordination of your Constitutions." Then Blessed Dominic said, "By the authority of God, I absolve him from the sin he committed. As for you, demon, I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to get out of him and from now on not to torment him." Immediately the brother was delivered.
2.23 His compassion for sinners
The holy father was wonderfully compassionate over the sins of men. As he approached any town or city and could see it from afar off, he thought of the misery of the people and the sins committed there, and completely melted in tears.
After a hard journey, sometimes he stayed at a lay guest-house. Before going in he would first quench his thirst at some fountain or nearby water spot. He was afraid of attracting attention at table by drinking so much to quench his thirst, which had built up in travelling. He was very careful to avoid notice not only in this matter but in everything.
2.25 His abstraction from exterior things
He kept his love so fixed on the Lord that his affection was drawn away from exterior things, whether big or small and insignificant, such as clothes, books, shoes, belt, knife etc. He went with the cheapest of such articles and frequently rebuked brothers for interest in these things or for trying to look too nice.
2.26 His study in the book of charity
A scholar once asked him which books he studied, since he saw that he preached very well and could quote Scripture at will. The holy man replied, "Son, I have studied the book of charity more than any other; this book teaches about everything."
2.27 The unchaste man healed at the smell of his hand
A student at Bologna had the habit of masturbation; although he confessed it often, he kept falling again and again. This came to a point that he said he could no longer help it. One feast day he happend to come to the house of the brothers to hear Mass and the sermon. When this man came up with his companions to bring their offering, he kissed the hand of Blessed Dominic, who was celebrating, and right away smelt such a sweet scent as he had never smelt before in his life. Perceiving this odour was just one wonder. Greater still was the fact that his flesh slipping stopped. As he himself testified, from then on he felt so much temperance of the flesh that containing himself became easy, whereas before it seemed impossible.
The following prophecy was related by a student at Bologna named Alfred, who heard it from Blessed Dominic while the Blessed Father was visiting some students, good friends of his, in their hostel at Bologna. As he was leaving them, he predicted, among other things, his own death, urging them to despise the world and be mindful of death: "My dear friends, you now see me alive and healthy, but know that I will not be long in this mortal life. Before the Assumption of our Lady, I will be taken from this present life." This prediction was proven by its fulfilment, since shortly before the Assumption of our Lady, he was assumed to the Lord. (56)
That he knew many future things is confirmed by several incidents in his Life, (57) one of which we can insert here:
One night in the city of Rome he made a vigil in the catacombs. As he lay prostrate fervently in prayer, he saw a vision. When he returned home for Matins, after the bell rang he called the brothers, let out great sighs and began to address them with a sobbing voice, citing that fearsome Gospel passage, "Brothers, Satan has got his wish to sift you all like wheat" (Lk 22:31). The brothers wept very much at his words, but he wept along with them even more. Finally he spoke the word which had been prophetically shown to him and said, "Weep, brothers, because two of us must go to life, and two to death." At that, the brothers were even more frightened; they wept the more bitterly and said among themselves, "Is it I?" The prophecy was fulfilled, for a few days afterwards two of the brothers quit the Order and, without doubt, went to death. Two others, however left the burden of the body and went to eternal life.
2.29 His companion, whom the deceased called to Christ
When Blessed Dominic's body was laid out in the church and his sons mourned him with Psalms and spiritual canticles and tears, Brother Albert of happy memory, was present. He was prior of St. Catherine's in Bologna, and had been a very good friend of Dominic's. Seeing that his friend had exchanged lamentation for exultation, he began to rejoice too. But, pitying himself, he rushed up to the body, embraced and kissed it, and would not get up until he had an answer from the dead. Then he got up smiling and cheerfully said to the prior of the brothers of Bologna, "Good news, Prior! Master Dominic embraced me and said that this year I will follow him to Christ." This prophecy was proven by its fulfilment, since that very year he died.
2.30 The absent student who saw him in glory
A respectable student was for some reason absent from his burial, but had heard about his death. The next night in a dream he saw Blessed Dominic in the church of Blessed Nicholas, sitting on a throne and splendidly crowned with glory and honour. He said to him, "Are you not Master Dominic, who are dead?" He replied, "I am not dead, son, because I have the good Lord with whom I live." The next morning he went to the brothers' church and found the Saint buried in the spot where in the dream he had seen him enthroned, although he had known nothing of the burial site.
2.31 The demoniac who was cured at his grave
Brother Chabert of Savoy was a fervent and grace-filled preacher who is said to have shone with many miracles after his death. When he was a student in Bologna, the day after the burial he, along with many others, saw a demoniac being brought to the tomb of the Blessed Father. As he came near, the demon began to shout, "What do you want with me, Dominic?" Shouting "Dominic!" again and again, he was dragged onto the tomb and there was completely delivered from the demon.
2.32 The brother who was healed of haemorrhoids and later from a rupture
A brother over sixty years old, whom Blessed Dominic had received into the Order at the convent of Limoges, had suffered many years from haemorrhoids. Hearing of the miracles that were happening at the tomb of Blessed Dominic before he was canonized, (58) he prostrated before humbly before the altar and said, "Lord Jesus Christ, you called me to this Order through Master Dominic. If what I hear is true and this father has any power with you, as I really believe, I ask you by his merits to cure me of this degrading infirmity." Immediately he was cured and gave thanks to God. He never again suffered from that messy infirmity for the remaining seven years of his life.
The same brother was assigned to the convent of Cahors, the place he eventually died. When he heard that the Blessed Father was canonized, and the brothers were devoutly singing the Te Deum for this, he was suddenly and perfectly cured of a rupture that he had for several years simply by saying, "O Blessed Father Dominic, you cured me from one nasty infirmity; deliver my old age from this serious one too."
2.33 The deaf nun who recovered her hearing
In the same convent the prior of the brothers was preaching to the people about the miracles of Blessed Dominic, when a nun, who had been deaf for many years, called on Blessed Dominic, and fully recovered her hearing.
2.34 The documents of his canonization which were not destroyed by water
Dominic Bartholomew, the cantor of Tripoli and a revered person, told this story: When he went to sea, carrying the newly made documents of the canonization of Blessed Dominic that his brothers had given him to bring to the brothers overseas, as they were approaching the port, the ship ran into a heavy storm and cracked. Everything above and below board was spoiled and badly damaged; but those documents were totally unharmed, even though they naturally should have been spoiled just by contact with everything else that was soaked.
He believed that this happened only by a miracle of God, so that his Saint might be honoured also by the peoples of Syria. For if the documents were lost, it would have taken a year or more for others to be sent.
2.35 Those delivered from danger at sea
A ship that had left Trapani in Sicily for Genoa met such a severe storm and heavy rain that it seemed the ship would break up and all would die. They had already lost the sail with the mast, and were throwing overboard most of the precious cargo that it carried. All began to confess their sins to one another and tearfully call on the saints who are usually invoked in danger at sea.
One brother of the Order of Preachers happened to be on board, and in all the invocations never heard Blessed Dominic mentioned. Fired with holy zeal, he urged them to invoke Blessed Dominic. They objected that they had never done so before and had never heard of him. The brother, full of trust in the merits of the Saint, then said, "Invoke him with all your hearts and vow to him something you will do out of respect for him, and you will certainly experience his help." So they all made a vow together that, if the Saint came to their aid, they would all go barefoot with burning candles to his church. After making that vow, they all shouted together, "Saint Dominic, help us!" and the wind suddenly stopped, the sea was calmed, the storm was quieted and the surface of the water became very pleasant; sadness gave way to joy, and lamentation to exultation. They thanked God in common and praised Saint Dominic. When they came safe and sound to Genoa, they did not forget their vow, and fulfilled what they promised in the company of the brother and his companion.
A Franciscan brother in Bologna was much troubled by a hernia, with his intestines exuding at his groin. He invoked Blessed Dominic, who was newly canonized, and after long prayer, when he was a little sleepy, he saw Blessed Dominic picking up his exuding intestines with the front of his scapular. He woke up and found himself completely cured. So he thanked God and Blessed Dominic, and told the whole story to his brothers. Through them the miracle was publicized, to the glory of the Saviour.
2.36 A holy nun miraculously cured
In Tripoli in Syria, at the women's monastery of St. Magdalene, there was a noble nun named Mary of Beaumont, a woman of great simplicity and innocence. She was tested by many serious illnesses, and finally by such a pain in her thigh and foot that for five months she could not turn in bed or even endure being turned by others; she could only lie on her back, with her flesh all consumed from sticking to the bed. During the first three of those five months she was tortured by such severe pain that her miserable cries greatly disturbed the sisters. The severity of the pain made her languish seven days without food, and her release from this life was expected any hour, especially when her breathing faltered and her face turned pale, making her lie unconscious and motionless. Yet after those seven days she began to breath a little, because her thigh, leg and foot became almost dead, and she lay immobile like a piece of insensible wood resting on a cushion.
So, on the advice of doctors, her mother and relatives arranged for her to be transferred from the monastery to their own home, so that she could more easily be helped with baths, ointments and other medical remedies. To do this, they asked and obtained permission from an abbot who was the visitator of that order. But when the religious girl found out about this, she absolutely refused to stay outside the monastery in the house of lay people, contrary to the custom of the order; moreover, she did not want to undergo the problematic display of her virginal body being carried through the streets in front of everyone to the baths. Her own blood-sister, who was a nun of the same monastery, rebuked her about this, saying, "Now God will save you through your holiness!" Her mother also asserted that we are no longer in ancient times when God made miracles. But the nun's stubbornness forced the two to go away, leaving her to herself.
Yet, fearing that they might carry her away as they had arranged, she turned wholly to the Lord in prayer, saying, "My Lord God, I am not fit to ask you, nor worthy to be heard by you, but I ask my lord Blessed Dominic, your servant, to be a mediator between me and you. Let him, by his merits and prayers, obtain for me the gift of health." She called on Blessed Dominic, to whom she was much devoted, with such insistent prayer and such a flood of tears that she was given in her heart a sure confidence of obtaining this. Even the father of these virgins, a noble man, was, while he lived, very devoted to Blessed Dominic, and commended his daughters and whole household to him. Yet, when this nun felt no alleviation of her pain, she began playfully to blame Blessed Dominic for not answering her prayers immediately. As she continued calling on him with prayers and tears, she went into ecstasy and saw him with two brothers opening the curtain hanging before her bed and entering. When she recognized who he was, she just asked him for her health, and the saint asked, "Why do you want so much to be healed?" She replied that she wanted it to serve God more devoutly, if being cured would contribute to her salvation. He then said, "Stretch your leg in the name of Christ." When she said she could not do so, he took from under his cappa some unusually fragrant ointment and anointed her with his holy hand. Immediately she was perfectly healed and could stretch and bend her leg. Then Blessed Dominic said, "This ointment is precious and sweet, but very difficult." When she asked why, the saint answered, "This ointment is a sign and symbol of God's love. It is really precious because it cannot be bought with any price and is the best gift of God. It is sweet, because nothing is sweeter than love. It is difficult, because it is quickly lost unless it is very carefully guarded.
The same night Blessed Dominic appeared to her sister sleeping in the dormitory, saying, "I have cured your sister." She ran straight to her sister and found her completely cured and full of thanks to God and Saint Dominic. As she found that the ointment was still noticeable on her, she wiped it with cotton and kept it for several days, not telling anyone out of humility. Finally her conscience forced her to reveal the matter to her Mother and her confessor, who was a religious man, so that they would teach her what to do with the very sacred ointment she was keeping. When she brought out the cotton, the confessor, the Mother and her sister were overwhelmed by its extraordinary fragrance, which was unlike any other scent, as four trustworthy persons testified. The sister was not only healed, but was permeated inwardly with heavenly ointment and fired with divine love, serving God with great humility and fervour.
Brother Yves, the Prior Provincial of the brothers of the Holy Land, a very holy and religious man, pleasing to God and to men, carefully examined and wrote about this miracle. The King and Queen of France, (59) who travelled and found him there, loved him very much and praised him highly.
As some brothers going through the region of Piemonte preached about some miracles of Blessed Dominic, one of their listeners had a brother terribly swollen with dropsy. Going home he told his brother about the miracles he heard of, and advised him to turn to Blessed Dominic for a cure. The sick man did so very devoutly. As he slept, Blessed Dominic appeared to him and removed unclean matter from his stomach without causing him any pain, and then sealed his stomach with his holy hand. The sick man woke up and, finding himself healed, told everyone of his vision. Against the expectation of all the doctors, he remained healthy and in good shape, continually thanking God and Blessed Dominic who cured him.
2.38 Wine increased by invoking him
In the town of Placia on the island of Sicily a woman was very devoted to God and did much for the brothers, to the great dislike of her husband. During one summer the wine ran out in the convent of the brothers, and she sent them wine every day, without her husband knowing about it. As time went on, because there were many in her family and because she was sending wine out to the brothers, her own cask ran out. When her husband happened to ask for some wine from that container, the house girl found nothing in it but dregs. She was frightened and reported this secretly to her mistress. She sent her back and the girl came back with the same report. Terrified that her husband might make a scene and forbid her from assisting the brothers, she dropped on her knees and called on Blessed Dominic, firmly believing in his merits. A third time she send the house girl to the cask, and she went murmuring. But she found so much wine that nothing seemed to have been taken.
This was a miracle really worked by the Lord, since the wine that would ordinarily last a month and a half for her own family, lasted four months for both the family and the brothers, as God multiplied it. As her husband began to wonder why the wine was lasting so long, he heard a brother preaching publicly about this miracle without mentioning names, since that lady had told the brothers the whole story. Going home, the man inquired why the wine was lasting so long, cautiously ridiculing the possibility of a miracle. But his wife convinced him by telling him the whole story. He then became very devoted to God and to the brothers. That miracle is widely know in those parts.
2.39 A man suffering from dropsy cured by his medicine
Also in Sicily, in a town called Castrogiovanni, there was a young man whose stomach was extremely inflated by dropsy and the rest of his body so weakened that he thought death was near. Because he was also poor, he was forced to go to the fields to gather wood, which he could hardly carry.
One day, while he was lying in the field complaining aloud and weeping over his misery, he remembered that Blessed Dominic came to the help of those who called upon him. He made a private vow that if he were cured by his merits he would serve his brothers in Placia for one year. Before he could get up from where he lay, he saw a brother standing over him who reached to the sambuco tree that was shading them and said, "Take the leaves of this sambuco, crush them, drink the juice and you will be healed;" he then disappeared. He got up, ground the leaves with stones, drank the liquid and his stomach then and there was relieved. Fully cured, he gathered a large bundle of wood and went home healthy, telling the story to everyone. Then he said goodbye to his mother and went to the brothers' house at Placia and served them for a year, as he had vowed. Blessed be God forever. Amen!
2.40 A youth cured of scrofula
In the same island and town of Placia there was a youth, a potter by trade, who was so afflicted by scrofula that his throat was rotted through and whatever he drank poured out the opening. As his mother saw he was close to death, she commended him to Blessed Dominic, asking that his merits would heal the boy, since nature and all medical remedies were unable to do so. Afterward, Blessed Dominic appeared to her in a dream and asked if she wanted her son to be freed. She said she wanted this with all her heart. Blessed Dominic then said, "Get up and take the leaves of some green vegetables; mix and grind them together, making a plaster of it over the wound; leave it for nine days, and your son will be healed." The woman woke up and did exactly as Blessed Dominic told her. Within the nine days her son was completely healed.
2.41 Some who were cured by the power of his relics
A citizen of Liège suffered an illness in his neck. He visited many saints' shrines, but was not helped. He then asked the prior of the Preaching Brothers secretly to place the relics of Blessed Dominic on the wound. When this was done he was instantly and perfectly healed. The prior told me this story himself.
A rich man of the same city suffered from a serious illness such that there was little hope for his life. His pain and agony was so great that he could not stand any touch by the doctors. When Brother Lambert saw his affliction, he urged him strongly to commend himself to Blessed Dominic, since the Lord had made worked miracles through him. The man devoutly asked Brother Lambert to bring him water that touched the relics of Blessed Dominic and sprinkle it on his diseased parts. When this was done, the pain immediately began to decrease and the tumour vanished; thus he was perfectly cured.
A brother in the convent of Metz suffered terribly in his hand from a bone that had grown in the joint between his fist and his arm. He was afraid he would loose the use of his arm. The doctors and surgeons told him that he would need an operation, but that was dangerous because of the veins and nerves that went through that joint.
On the vigil of Blessed Mary Magdalene, patron of that convent, two brothers arrived from a far off part of Germany while the altar was being prepared after None, and they entered the choir to receive a blessing. The brother with the bad hand was helping the sacristan at the altar and the two left their work to give the brothers a blessing. As the visiting brothers rose, they said, "We brought with us some remains of Blessed Dominic, our Father." When the brother with the bad hand heard the name of Blessed Dominic and that his relics were there, he was filled with devotion and exhiliration, and began repeating in his heart and with his voice, "Father, Father, you did well to come to us!" Following the brothers as they carried the relics to the altar, he kept clapping his hands and saying, "Father, Father, you did well to come to us!" At the altar he took the relics in his two hands, kissed them, and was immediately freed from the problem of that bone.
Coming away from the altar, he saw some dirt on the lamp in the middle of the choir and, as he picked it up to clean it, dirtied his hand. When he went to the washroom to wash his hands only then did he notice that his hand was cured from the problem of that bone. After washing his hands, he ran for joy to the prior, who was in the chapter room, and showed how he was cured when the relics of Blessed Dominic arrived. The brothers were astonished at this and the story went quickly through the house.
A brother who was in bed in the infirmary, suffering from severe stomach pain, heard about this and devoutly asked the sacred relics of Blessed Dominic to be brought to him. Touching them, he said he was relieved of his pain and cured.
2.43 An every-three-day fever driven away by invoking him
A lay brother in the same convent had long been suffering from a fever that recurred every three days. On the vigil of the first feast of Blessed Dominic (60) he was in great pain, with his head swollen and waiting for another attack of fever, when the prior visited him: "Brother, how are you?" "I am waiting for my fever to hit again." "The Lord is able to show you mercy and free you from this and further attacks through the merits of Blessed Dominic." "I firmly believe that, if you command the fever on behalf of God and Blessed Dominic, it will not disturb me any more and I will be cured." Trusting in God's goodness and the merits of Blessed Dominic, the prior then commanded the fever to leave the brother and never afflict him again. The fever left him at once, and he never experienced that or any other fever again. He was also completely relieved of the swelling of his head. That prior, Brother James, a man of great reputation, told this story to the Master of our Order.
49. See the Introduction on the work of Blessed Jordan and the "legends" of Peter of Ferrand and Constantine of Orvieto and the stories reported by Sister Cecilia.
50. Antonio.
51. Beatified by Gregory XVI.
52. At Campostella, in Spain.
53. In the year 1219.
54. Honorius III sent Dominicans and Franciscans to Morocco by a bull of 7 October 1225.
55. JK: "near to"
56. He died on 6 August 1221.
57. This is a slightly expanded version of passage 54 of Constantine of Orvieto's Legend (ed. cit., p. 323).
58. He was canonized by Gregory IX on 2 July 1234.
59. Louis IX and Margaret.
60. 4 August 1234, after the canonization by Gregory IX on 3 July of that year.