The Life of St. Thomas of Villanova
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JOHN M. KELLY LIBRARY Donated by The Redemptorists of the Toronto Province from the Library Collection of Holy Redeemer College, Windsor University of St. Michael s College, Toronto " ^ I? <6 1 DiUewulK cathedral choir at Valencia S-. Thomas in ecstasy in the duriiKJJ Divine Office before Mass. THE LIFE OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, . ARCHBISHOP OF VALEKTIA AND AUGUSTINIAN FRIAR. With an Introductory Sketch of OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. UATJDK MABIA VTBOO, OUNOTA8 HAHREBE8 SOLA 1NTERMMI8TI iv UHIVJSB80 MUNDO." Antiphon oj the Vh FIRST AMERICAN EDITION: PHILADELPHIA: PETER F. CUNNINGHAM & SON, 2 9 SOUTH TENTH STREET. 1874- HOLY REDEEMfftffgRARY, WINDSOR PERMISSU SUPERIORUM. Entered according ta Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by PETER F. CUNNINGHAM & SON, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. 0. CONTENTS. THE LIFE OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. PAGE. INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL SKETCH... 7 PART I. CHAPTER. I. Of the Birth of St. Thomas of Villanova,.and the inclination to assist the poor which he displayed in his early youth 75 II. He is sent to study at the University of Alcala, and makes rapid progress in virtue and learning 82 III. He takes the habit in the Order of St. Augustine... 88 IV. Of his conduct in the observance of the rules after his profession, and of his elevaiion to the priest hood 94 V. He teaches theology at Salamanca 101 VI. Of the wonderful talent for preaching that God bestowed on St. Thomas of Villanova 110 VII. Of the great virtues with which the Saint accompa nied his preaching 117 VIII. Continuation of the same subject, with some exam ples 122 IX. Of his conduct in the religious offices imposed on him 131 X. St. Thomas is elected Provincial twice consecutively in two different provinces 139 XI. St. Thomas is allied in friendship with those only whom he knows to be virtuous and faithful ser vants of God 147 XII. St. Thomas refuses the Archbishopric of Granada, that of an<^ accepts Valentia 155 3 4 Contents. PART II. CHAPTER. PAOB^ I. Of the conduct of St. Thomas when he became Arch bishop, and of the first proofs which he gave of charity and prudence in his government 168 II. St. Thomas when Archbishop preserved the same pov and as when a and erty modesty simple religious ; his new dignity never made him forget his first condition 177 III. Of the time employed by St. Thomas in prayer, and the favors he received in that holy exercise 185 IV. Of the gift of prophecy, and the power he had re ceived from God over demons 193 V. Of his humility after he became Archbishop 200 VI. St. Thomas had no respect of persons. Of his con tempt for all created things. Of his evangelical liberty 210 VII. Of the care he took of his household, and the char all those under his ity with which he treated ju risdiction 221 in which is VIII. Sequel of the preceding chapter, shown the number of conversions he obtained by the 233 severe disciplines he used IX. Of the care which he took of the honor of his the 243 clergy, and of his charity towards poor X. The vigilance and prudence of this holy pastor in the government of his flock 250 XI. Of the wonderful charity of St. Thomas towards the 268 poor XII. Continuation of the account of his charity towards 282 the poor 291 XIII. Sequel of the same subject XIV. Of the miracles wrought by our Lord in the distri bution of alms by St. Thomas of Villanova 301 XV. Of the death of St. Thomas of Villanova 313 Contents. 5 ABRIDGMENT OF THE MIRACLES OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLA- NOVA. PAQE. Incorruption of the body of St. Thomas of Villanova 334 Multiplication of corn in favor of the poor 337 St. Thomas with the sign of the cross cures a larne and para- .lytic man 339 A dead child by the merits of St. Thomas of Villanova raised to life at his tomb 341 A girl sixteen years of age also resuscitated at the tomb of St. Thomas of Villanova 342 A blind girl received her sight at the tomb of St. Thomas of Villanova 344 By touching the relics of St. Thomas, a girl i s miraculously cured of a disease pronounced incurable 345 A cure very similar to the preceding by the merits of St. Thomas of Villanova 346 A wounded man, after having kept his bed two years, is miraculously cured by the intercession of St. Thomas of Villanova 347 A man covered with ulcers, which confined him to his bed for fourteen years, is in an instant recovered by the prayers of St. Thomas 348 A paralytic recovers his health through the intercession of St. Thomas 349 A woman in a dangerous labor is miraculously delivered, her child and dead brought to life, through the merits of St. Thomas 350 A dead man raised to life by St. Thomas 351 INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE TIMES OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. IN giving to the public the Life of a Saint, it will not be out of place, in order to have a just to idea of the part he played in God s creation, of the he lived in to also give a brief sketch age ; his what show what manner of men were in time ; they did and how they lived; to picture their ways and describe their aims, and to point out their failures and extol their triumphs. For in taking up the history of any one country or era, and viewing carefully its several phases, we cannot fail to note that it is the men that always it and not the the men make the age what is, age, ; that all great events, no matter how diverse in themselves, cluster naturally around those who were the chief actors in the scene, just as hills, in the physical world, group themselves around some giant peak, and get their name from it. On them, it first shadows its mighty form, and only after it receives the first rays of the rising sun, do they, in proper turn, gain whatever light, prominence, or interest they may have. So, in like manner, are great men, sages, prophets, warriors, heroes, 8 Introductory and and especially the saints, the central points, as it were of the events of their day. They it is, that by their virtues, their wisdom, their heroism, their many excellences of mind and heart, and by their holiness of life, tower far above the greatest of their race. Their minds are ever close wrapt in sweet communion with the Lord; their life, redolent of all the beauty of the Eternal One, and in it do they present to us a diorama of all in human life that is pleasing, instructive, or necessary for us to know. In a word, all they do, tells of the Spirit within, which quickens them in all good deeds, and gives them the power to light and guide their fellow-men. Wherefore it is that, in God s own world of grace, His saints are likened in the words of Holy Writ unto great mountains, that break in here and there upon the view, give relief to the otherwise unbroken and unpicturesque plain of history, and serve as landmarks to fix our minds on things and not on self. Great men we can understand of themselves, events only through and after them. To call to mind some facts from story to exemplify our theme, we shall cull two or three from the several chief eras of the world. In them we shall find that, in the life of some one saint or other, has been illustrated in turn every natural or that of virtue, inspired ; every phase human life, either in its refinement in learning or in its advance in civilization, has been improved chastened and reformed in a that by them, ; word, every stage of society, religious, political, or Historical Sketch 9 domestic, has been moulded on their life, and become through them God-serving, humane and peaceful. In the olden time, among God s people, in Egypt, and in the Desert, was Moses. The reader of the history of that day can scarcely think of them without thinking too of him. Indeed, to do so would cost us mighty effort at the least, nor even then would our picture of the children of Israel, so despoiled of its main figure, be complete, or our acquaintance with Jewish history exact. And what Moses was in one era, Solomon was in another. How closely linked is not his name with whatever there was of wisdom, piety, law, and re ligion among the Jews ! and with God s Temple ! symbol of the Divine beauty, reared alone at Jeru salem, sole and solitary, among the nations of the earth who knew Him not. And that warrior- saint, Judas of the Maccabees, and the host of others, women, men, children, of less repute, Saul, Absalom, the young Tobias, Rebecca the comely, Sarai the saintly matron, Susanna the chaste, the prudent Esther, Judith the heroine, or Ruth the industrious house-wife how ill-instructed would not we be without all memory of them! Without some mention at least of them, how bare would not the picture be of God s people ! how bereft of all color, hue, and shade, and of every beauty that graces the maiden, or dignifies the matron, or exalts the hero! Without these we could have no insight of the many causes which at that time brought forth to the world the bravest of warriors, the wisest of statesmen, and the most io Introductory and gifted of Saints, whose names have come down to even our times as symbols of the golden era of our race.