Page:Lifeofsaintcatha.djvu/210

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

him by means of one of her companions, and said: " Examine your conscience I entreat you, and see whether you did not forget some sin." And as he again affirmed that he had confessed all, she drew him aside, and recalled to his memory a grievous sin that he had secretly committed when in la Puglia. The soldier, much astonished, acknowledged that he had indeed committed that sin; he went in search of his Confessor and completed his confession. Afterwards he could not keep silence in regard to this miracle, and narrated its particulars to all those that wished to hear him, as though he would say like the Samaritan woman of old: " Come and see this virgin who revealed to me my most secret offences; is she not a saint and a prophetess ? How do otherwise than recognize it, for the fault which she recalled to me, could be known to no one but myself." From that hour, the brave knight obeyed Catherine as a pupil obeys his master, and death soon manifested the necessity of this happy change. Ere that year had winged its flight, a painful illness concluded his days, and he rendered his soul to God in the best dispositions.

There are several points worthy of remark in this event; first, the apparition during sleep, the supernatural revelation of a sin, and then the salvation of a man, long habituated to offending. Let us, while blessing God for the use he made of Catherine's intercession, turn our attention to another species of revelation and a miraculous help obtained from heaven by her means.

Before enjoying the privilege of a particular acquaintance with the blessed Catherine, I dwelt a long time in a fortified place, called Montepulciano, and I directed there during four years, a monastery of Nuns of my Order. During my sojourn in this place, where there