Life St. Francis Solanus
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L I F E ANCISSOLANUS ST . FR , AP OST LE OF PER U: B Y A PR IE T OF T HE OR DER OF ST F A . R NC I S S , P ro vince o the Sa cred Hea rt f . mm: fi ermissu i np ati owm . NEW YOR K , B E N ! E E I G R B R O T H R S, R I NT ER S T E HOLY APOST OLI C SEE P T O H . C P R EFA E. w o f . i EV . Alban Butler thus rites St Franc s ive n fo llo wi n So la n u s , wh o se life is g in the g p a ges : “ o f An extraordinary humility , contempt himself, f - a o worldly va nity a n d applause , self deni l , obedi o f re co lle c ence , meekness , patience , love silence , a n tion d prayer , both mental and vocal , formed his ” ch a racter . a P a z His whole life , says Alv rez de , may a o f be rega rded s a holy , uninterrupted course zeal o us a ction ; yet it wa s at the s a me time a constant a n d most fervent prayer , - abounding in heavenly lights and consolations . The a ssertion of these two writers will be fully i n o f a a n d demonstra ted . the life the great S int f . to im Apostle o Peru We will endeavor show , i m a So la n u s perfectly though t y be , that was h o a speci a lly chosen by divine Providence , w w tched a n d a e over , directed him , so th t he ntered the great l N a fie d o f l a bor in the e wWorld . We shall lso see how fa ithfully o ur S a int coopera ted with the fa vors and gra ces so abunda ntly showered upon him from a above , thereby reaping an abund nt harvest for the o f f honor God and for the salvation o souls . We P ii REFACE . should learn from this to have u nbounded confidence a in God , and to correspond f ithfully with the gra ces bestowed . a fo ll We sh ll in this book o w St . Francis from his a h u or h l S v u birth to his de t , seci , as in a picture , a a n d tues , mir cles mission in the Church . The author will consider himself a mply rewa rded a u wo n for the l bor bestowed pon this work , if the o f a s a a n d u a ders God , reve led in , thro gh his S ints , l a a n d sh a ll be more wide y spre d ; if the clergy , a a a a both secul r and regul r , especi lly those who l bor a in the mission ry field , are incited to persevere fa i thfully in their glorious work , considering the h a rdships endured by the first m 1ss1o n a rie s in the l New Wor d . H R THE AUT O . C ONT ENT S . HA C P T ER . I —B Fr . i f n rth an d Yo uth o St. a cis So l a n u s — — l l . He nt r h r r o f Fra n cis His e e s t e O d e St. No vui ate an d P ro fe ssio n — III. He C o n ti n ue s h is Studie s a n d is Orda in ed P rie st . 1 — a n So la u s u r t. Fr cis n a ri n ri V . S s P est a d S p e o V — He e ave s S a i n a n d be c o m e h A o s o f . l p s t e p tle P e ru So th Am rica , u e — VL Labo rs i n P eru — Fra n ci o l a n u s in T cu m a C hako I . V L St s S u n , , 50 — F i u r III t. ran c s So l an s in P a a a Ura ua tc . 59 V . S gu y , g y, e I X —La s Y ar i n T c m an 63 . t e s u u — Fra n i ola nu s e a T c m a n Lim a a n d X . t. c S v S s l es u u , - Fr n o la n u XI D a th o f St. a c S s . e is — t B uria o f S XI cc r n ce a t h De a h a n d t. I . O ur e s t e l Fra n cis XIII —Mira c e w o ht at th e D a th a n d B ria o f . l s r ug e u l ! Fra n ci o l an u . a St. s S s — n ra i n i o n R e ar in th e a n ctit f XI V. Ge e l Op g d g S y o St. Fra n cis So la nu s . X —Mira c s w o h thro h th e In te rce ssi o n o f V. le r ug t ug Fra n i o la n u s ft h i t. c S a e s De a th S s , r I —B e a tifi a i n i i XV c t o a nd C a o n a o n . n z t US LI E r T FRANCISSOLAN . F o S. R I CHAPTE . S n Fra n cis o la us . B irth a n d Yo u th of St. Among the many S a ints wh o adorned the Church a n d during the sixteenth seventeenth centuries , a conspicuous pl a ce should be given to St . Francis a So l a n u s . He was born in Montill , Priego County , D o f a And a lusia , in the iocese Cordova , Sp in , March 1 l 0th , 549 . fa th e r Ma tth e w His , Sanchez , and his mother , a Xim e n e z gvo f z a Ann i the renowned Ximene f mily , were both of noble extraction . They were well a n d o n known highly honored , not only account of b a their no le birth , but still more for their virtue n d piety . The father o f our S a int was so highly e s teemed by his fellow- citizens th a t they frequently a a a s ppointed him he d of the Supreme Court , well a a s M yor of the city . ” Anna So la n u s wa s worthy to become the mother a a to . o f a S int . She had a speci l devotion St Fran f . re cis o Assisi Shortly before his birth , she co m mended herself and her offspring to the protection o f . this great Saint Therefore , with a joyous , A LAN 2 r sr FR NC I S SO US. LIFE o . t g rateful he a rt she welcomed the bir h of her son , the second of the three children with which o u r Lord blessed her . a As proof of her gr titude , she desired him to be a m named Fra ncis . His f ther willingly co plied with a n d a wa s a i da this request , the inf nt b pt zed on the y ’ o f . Ja a his birth , at St mes the parochi l Church of a Montill . We generally see pious parents blessed with duti ful a u a children , while ungodly p rents are contin lly a f f compl ining o the misdeeds o their little ones , seeming to forget tha t the fa ult is very often all n o t a their own . If they do fe r and obey the Lord , how can th e y e xpect their children to do so a wa s a After his b ptism , the little Francis t ken to h o n his mother , w pressed him to her bosom , receivi g a h a him as a little ngel , now that he d been purified a a o f a n and regener ted in the w ters b ptism , bei g thereby cleansed from original sin m a de a member f o f G d f a o the Church o , and an heir o he ven . She h a d loved him before as her son , but now still more f s as a child o God . Mo t tenderly did she watch o n e a o f over her beloved , awaiting the earliest d wn reason to impl a nt in his young m ind the funda a f i ment l truths o our holy rel gion . The tea chings and example of such a mother pro d uce d a a most fruitful harvest .