Part 3 (1/2)
Over the Casa dei Esercizii Pii the sweet spirit of Francesca seems still to preside On the day of her festival its rooentle saint is exhibited, lights burn on nues, leaves are strewn in the chapel, on the stairs, in the entrance-court; gay carpets, figured tapestry and crio in and out, and kneel before the relics or the pictures of the dear saint of Roer in these chaether The well-dressed and the ragged, the rich and the poor, without distinction, pay their ho presence once adorned the spot which they visit It is a joyous and touching festival, one which awakens tender thoughts, and brings the world of memory into close connection with that of hope
Thebride of Lorenzo Ponziano entered these walls for the first time, in all the sacred beauty of holiness and youth--
”Pure as the virgin snow that dwells Upon the mountain's crest, Cold as the sheet of ice that lies Upon the lake's deep breast”
Pure fros to hu with love to God, and overfloith charity to every creature of His
She was received tenderly and joyfully by Lorenzo himself, by his father Andrew, his mother Cecilia, and Vannozza, the wife of his elder brother
Francesca smiled sweetly as she returned their caresses; but the noise, and the gaiety, and the visiting, that attended a wedding in those days weighed heavily on her spirits; and though she never complained, Vannozza perceived that her little heart was oppressed with some secret sorrow, and tenderly inquired into its cause Francesca could not resist the gentle appeal, and disclosed her grief to her kind sister She told her that the world had never given her pleasure, that her affections were elsewhere set, that she longed to live for God alone, and felt sad, in spite of all her efforts, at the tumult and dissipation, which was now her portion ”If such are your feelings, my beloved little sister,” exclaimed Vannozza, ”my sympathy ht in the vanities of the world, but only in prayer and meditation Let us be friends, Francesca; I will help you to lead the life you desire, and together we shall arrive at the end we have in view”
These kind words filled Francesca's heart with joy; and fro up a friendshi+p between these two young woht-and-thirty years, and was a source of the greatest consolation to theh all the trials they had to encounter, at the same time that it edified all those who beheld that tender affection
In her new home Francesca followed the same mode of life which she had pursued in her father's house; but her zeal was tempered with so much wisdom and prudence, that she offended no one, and contrived to win the affection of all her relations Her good sense, her sweetness of temper, her earnest piety, charirl could at once assume the part and fulfil the duties of a devoted wife and a noble matron Anxious in every way to conform herself to Lorenzo's wishes, she received the visits of the high-born ladies her equals and companions, and returned them with punctuality She subed to her position, and accepted and wore the costly dresses and the splendid jehich her husband lavished upon her; but under those gorgeous silks and rich brocades a hair-shi+rt was concealed Always ready to comply with any observance which duty or propriety required, she at the same time steadily abstained even froed; and never danced or played at cards, or sat up late at night
Her entle and kind, that it inspired affection in all who approached her; but there was also a profound and awful purity in her aspect and in her demeanour, which effectually checked the utterance of a free or licentious word in her presence Faithful to her early habits of piety, she continued every Wednesday her visits to Santa Maria Nuova; and after confessing to Don Antonio, she went to communion with such fervent devotion, that those who saw her at the altar absorbed in adoration, foresaw that God would ere long bestow extraordinary graces on her soul Rising beti, Francesca devoutly said her prayers, made her meditation, and read attentively out of a spiritual book In the course of the day, whenever she had a moment's leisure unclaimed by any of the duties of her state, she withdrew into a church or into her own rooave herself up to prayer Every Saturday she had a conference with Fra Michele, a Dominican monk, the prior of San Clemente, and an intiian, as well as a reat piety and virtue, and instructed her with care in all the doctrines of religion
At the sa person of twelve years old could not fail to attract the attention and dran the censures of the worldly Many such began to laugh at Francesca, and to turn her piety into ridicule They intruded their advice on Lorenzo Ponziano, and urged him to put a stop to what they termed his wife's eccentricities But happily for Francesca, he was not one of those men who are easily influenced by the opinion of others He forment, and pursued his own line of conduct undisturbed by the co as ht, her whole life bore too visibly the stas with her, for hi with the course she had taken On the contrary, he looked upon her with that affectionate veneration which the presence of true sanctity always awakens in a noble and religious , and all but idolised the holy child who had coarded her as the blessing of their house, and the coe
Paluzzo, Lorenzo's brother, delighted in encouraging the inti sister-in-law and his oife Vannozza
There was not a single member, friend, or servant, of that noble faht upon Francesca She was the joy of every heart, the sweet consoler of every sorrow, the link that bound them all by the sacred cord of love Day by day her influence--her tender, noiseless, gentle influence--was felt, subduing, winning, drawing them all to God
The happiness which the fae was interrupted by the sudden and dangerous illness of his wife, which baffled all rave The affliction of her husband and of his whole fareat price seemed about to be taken frohtest relief to her sufferings; she was unable to rest, or to retain any nourishth declined The consternation of her friends knew no bounds; her father was inconsolable He secretly reproached himself with the constraint he had placed on her inclinations, and considered her illness as a Divine chastiseeneral affliction She placed her life in the hands of God, and waited the event with perfect submission Unable to speak, or even to move, the sweet expression of her earnest eyes alone spoke her gratitude to those who nursed her and wept over her sufferings At other times they were fixed on the Crucifix with an unutterable look of trust and love Once only she was disturbed, and indignation gave her strength to protest against the guilty suggestions of so to the notions of that ti that a spell had been cast upon her, and proposed to have recourse to soic arts
Francesca declared herself ready to die, rather than countenance so i After all medical resources had been exhausted, when despair had succeeded to hope, Alhty God restored her health for a while; and the news of her recovery was hailed with rapture within and without the palace
Her sufferings, however, returned with double violence; she endured the ain considered to be at the point of death During a whole year she remained as it were on the brink of eternity: her soul prepared to take its wing; continually sustained by the Sacraht was to soothe the anguish of her husband and parents Once again, those persons who had previously proposed to resort to ed to thrust into her room, on some pretence or other, a wohtened by a divine inspiration, instantly detected the fraud; and raising herself in her bed, with a voice, the strength of which astonished the bystanders, exclaione, thou servant of Satan, nor ever venture to enter these walls again!”
Exhausted by the effort, she fell back faint and colourless; and for a moment they feared that her spirit had passed away But that very day God was preparing a miracle in her behalf; and as she had refused to hold any co servant a heavenly s It was the eve of the Festival of St Alexis,--that noble Roman penitent, who passed so many years at the threshold of his own palace, unpitied, unrecognised by his own relations, ent in and out at the gate, and stopped not to question the silent, lonely, patient beggar, who lay there with his face hid in a poor cloak, finding peace in the midst of bitterness
The Ponziani had all withdrawn to rest for a few hours; the wo Francesca had fallen asleep She was lying s had been sharp; they were sharper than ever that night She endured theth of the Cross, frohts wandered The whole house, and apparently the city also, rapt in slumber; for not a soundto those atch and suffer Suddenly on the darkness of the silent chaht as the day In the racious in countenance He wore a pilgri near to Francesca's bed, he said: ”I am Alexis, and am sent from God to inquire of thee if thou choosest to be healed?” Twice he repeated the words, and then the dying one faintly ood pleasure of God Be it done untoto His will For my own part, I would prefer to die, and for my soul to fly to Him at once; but I accept all at His hands, be it life or be it death” ”Life, then, it is to be,” replied St Alexis; ”for He chooses that thou shouldest relorify His name” With these words he spread hisher perfectly recovered
Confounded at this extraordinary favour, more alive to the sense of God's wonderful mercy than to her own sudden freedom from pain, Francesca rose in haste, and prostrate on the floor,out of her roo her nurses, she hurried to the bedside of her friend and sister Putting her arm round her neck and her cheek next to her's, she exclaimed, ”Vannozza cara! Vannozza mia!” (My dear Vannozza, my own Vannozza) And the bewildered Vannozza suddenly awoke out of her sleep, and distrusting the evidence of her senses, kept repeating, ”Who calls ? It sounds like the voice of my Cecolella” [Footnote: The Italian diminutive for Francesca] ”Yes, it is your Cecolella; it is your little sister who is speaking to you” ”My Francesca, whoo at the point of death?” ”Yes, the very same Francesca who now holds you to her breast; you, you, ht have co illness, and who must now helpupon her bed, with her hands clasped in her's, she related to her her vision, and the instantaneous recovery that had followed it; and then, as the light was beginning to break into the chaerness, ”No the day is coer, but hasten with me to Santa Maria Nuova, and then to the church of St
Alexis I must venerate his relics, and return him my thanks, before others learn what God has done for me”
This pious purpose fulfilled, they returned home, where Francesca was looked upon as one risen froled with awe; every one considered her as the special object of the Divine ly Not so joyfully had Lorenzo received her on their bridal-day, as when she came to him now, restored to his arms by the miraculous interposition of a merciful God
CHAPTER III
FRANCESCA PROCEEDS IN HER MORTIFICATIONS AND WORKS OF CHARITY--HER SUPERNATURAL TEMPTATIONS AND CONSOLATIONS
Not in vain had Francesca been brought so near to death, and so wonderfully restored to perfect health A favour such as she had received could not fail of producing signal results in one who so well corresponded with every degree of grace vouchsafed to her This last manifestation of God's mercy disposed her to ns of Providence in her regard She see o, the arace conferred on her soul, the severe account which would be deht she shuddered, as a hted at the distinct appearance of a precipice which he has skirted in the night, or at the waves dashi+ng wildly on a beach on which he has been landed in safety Her meditations at that time assumed a very solemn character; everychurch of St Cecilia or in her own oratory, and e heroic resolutions for the future
The governue is one of the most difficult and important points in the spiritual life From this time forward Francesca avoided all unnecessary conversations, and became habitually silent There was no moroseness in her silence; it never interfered with the kindnesses or the courtesies of life; but as in childhood she had been reuished her, and especially since her illness and miraculous recovery Vannozza inquired of her one day what it was that made her so habitually silent, and she answered, ”God expects more of us than heretofore;” and then she proposed to her a still stricter ly assented, and they agreed to give up all useless amusements, fashi+onable drives, and diversions, and to devote to prayer and to good works the hours thus withdrawn from the service of the world They resolved to observe with the most exact punctuality every law of God, and every precept of the Church; to obey their husbands with the most attentive and Christian-like subhostly father, and subhts; and thus to secure theainst the deceits of the evil one They then proceeded to arrange for themselves a place of retreat, where they could withdraw to pray at any hour of the day or of the night It was not easy to accomplish this in a palace inhabited by a nue nuarden, and in a little room that happened to be unoccupied under the roof of the house, they established two oratories, which they furnished with crucifixes, ies of our Blessed Lady, and pictures of saints, as well as with various other objects of devotion and with instruments of penance These two little cells becaht; whenever their doious observances out of doors left thearden oratory, and at night they frequently spent whole hours in prayer in the upper chamber The first dawn of day often found them at their orisons The hours that were not devoted to prayer or to the duties of their state, they employed in works of charity
Almost every day they went to the hospital of San Spirito, and nursed the sick with the kindest attention; consoling the al affectionately the hout their whole lives they never omitted this practice To serve Christ in His afflicted brethren was a privilege they never consented to forego
Francesca was at this tinia of wealth and rank, and to dress as simply as the poor she so much loved; but, always obedient, she would not atteuide Don Antonio Savello would not give her leave to relinquish the splendid robes then worn by persons of her rank; he feared it er of ostentation in any thing that attracted public attention; but he allowed both the sisters to wear a coarse woollen garnificent dresses, and to practise in secret several other austerities Their fasts and abstinences becaid than ever; but were carried on with so much simplicity, and such a total absence of display, that the very persons who habitually took their meals in company with them, scarcely remarked their mortifications, or else attributed theimen Disciplines and other bodily penances of a very severe nature were by this time habitual to Francesca, and she persevered in them to the end of her life With whatever care they concealed all these things, it was not possible that the city of Roenerosity to the poor The common people looked upon Francesca and Vannozza as two saints; and their exaan to tell beneficially upon the women of their own class Several noble ladies were inspired with the desire to walk in their steps, and to imitate their virtues But it was not likely that Satan should behold un in the hearts of these two young servants of God, and through thean that long series of attacks, of struggles, and of artifices, by which he endeavoured to hty God seeranted to the prince of darkness, in San Francesca's case, a perave hiard to His servant Job He was allowed to throw tes, to persecute her by fearful manifestations of his visible presence, to haunt her under various shapes, some seductive in their appearance, others repulsive and terrific in their nature; but he was not permitted (as, thanks be to God, he never is permitted,) to deceive or to injure His faithful servant, who for every trial of the sort obtained some divine favour in compensation; who for every vision of diabolical horror, was allowed a glilory; and to whouardian to defend her against the violence of her infernal foe
The first time that Satan presented hiave her an earnest of His protection in the strife about to be waged between her and the old serpent byto her the character of her visitor It was under the aspect of a venerable hers, that he entered the Ponziano palace: his intention was, by soust for the solitary life, and at the same time for that hidden life which she so zealously practised in the e roo together No sooner had Francesca set her eyes upon hihtened as to his true character; she knew at once the dreadful eneht; and, suddenly changing colour, she rose and left the room Vannozza followed (alarmed at her hasty departure), and found her in the oratory kneeling before the Crucifix, and as pale as death She inquired into the cause of her emotion; but Frances si-room, and request Lorenzo to dismiss the herst them as serene and calm as usual; and to no one but to her confessor did she mention the circumstance Yet it was a most awful moment, that first initiation into the supernatural world, that first contact with the powers of darkness, that opening of the visible war between her and the great enemy No wonder that she was habitually silent; her soul must have lived in very close communion with the invisible world, and the presence of God must have been realised in an extraordinary decree by one whose spiritual discernment was so miraculously keen
A more ordinary snare was the tempter's next resource, and he chose as his instrument a person of piety and virtue, but whose hugested to Cecilia, the mother-in-law of the two saints, as most fondly attached to them, and maternally solicitous about their healths, that the ascetic life which they led must necessarily i persons; and that the singularity of their conduct reflected discredit on the family Under this impression, she strove by every ns, to thwart them in their devotional and charitable practices, and to induce theive up more of their tiave them occasion to practise a very peculiar kind of patience, and to gain the more merit in the eyes of God, in that they had daily to encounter a sort of opposition particularly trying to young and ardent spirits It is related, that one day, when they had gently but steadily refused to pay so absolute duties, were only pretexts for gossip and the most frivolous conversations, Francesca and Vannozza had retired into the garden oratory; and after spending soether on the life which the early Fathers ont to lead in the deserts, and of the happiness it must be to live entirely devoted to the service of God, and to cohts and cares of the world