consecrated — I received it from his own sacred hands. Rejoice, therefore, in him; because I have this day from him a grace for which I can never sufficiently thank my Saviour ! " This explanation changed my sadness into joy; and I was so encouraged by these words, that I no longer experienced the slightest anxiety.
I relate these miracles in order that God and man may not charge me with ingratitude and negligence. We will now pass to other wonders which have been narrated to me by other witnesses.
Several individuals, worthy of credit, assured me that when they assisted at the Mass at which Catherine received holy communion, they saw distinctly the sacred Host escaping from the hands of the priest and flying to her mouth; they told me that this prodigy happened even when I gave her the sacred Host; I own that I never remarked it very clearly, only I always perceived a certain trembling in the consecrated host, when I presented it to her lips: it entered her mouth like a little stone thrown from a distance with force. Friar Bartholomew of St. Dominic, professor of Sacred Scripture (Ecriture Sainte) and now Prior Provincial, of my Order for the Roman province, told me also, that when he gave Catherine the holy Communion he felt the Sacred Host escaping notwithstanding his efforts to hold it. I dare neither affirm nor deny it, and I leave it to the reader's piety to decide what he should believe.
I conclude this recital of miracles which refer to the Holy Eucharist, to say a word of those which refer to the relics of the Saints.
It was revealed to Catherine, that in the kingdom of heaven, she would enjoy the same rank as the blessed Sister Agnes of Montepulciano, and that she would enjoy
