prefer to renew and increase it, abstain sometimes; but if he perceives that his respect, far from diminishing, increases, he should receive the Eucharist often, because a soul well-disposed necessarily acquires great graces by the reception of that admirable and efficacious Sacrament. This is the opinion of the angelical Doctor, whose doctrine Catherine followed in every respect. She communicated often, and sometimes denied herself the consolation, although she always desired to be united to her divine Spouse in the adorable Eucharist. Her burning charity unceasingly inclined her towards Him whom she had seen really, and whom she loved with all her heart and will.
Such was the vivacity of her desires, that on the days in which she was deprived of holy communion, her body suffered in the same manner as one that had long undergone a violent malady: she frequently endured interior troubles which re-acted exteriorly: and she owed this to some unenlightened Religious who directed her, as to the Superior of the Sisters of Penance, and sometimes to persons for whom she entertained the warmest attachment. This was one of her reasons for finding greater consolation in my ministry than in that of my predecessors. I used every possible effort to obtain the consolation she so much desired — she was conscious of this, and when she sighed for the Bread of Angels, she used to say to me: " Father, I am hungry; for the love of God feed my soul ! " Therefore the Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory XI. by a special Bull gave her a permission to have a Priest and a portable Altar, so that, she could everywhere and always, without any permission, hear Mass and receive holy Communion.
After these explanations, I purpose narrating a miracle
