A REMARKABLE CHAPTER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 70, 29 August 1874, Page 13

A REMARKABLE CHAPTER.

(Continued _) In respect to the great calamities which Anna Maria announces as impending over mankind, as well aa the splendid triumph which will follow for the Pope nnd the Church, together with the renovation of the entire world, one may pay that such is the general object and tho common end of all the prophecies, whether ancient or modern, which bear upon these latter times. Each seer, it is true, has added or dwelt more at large on some special circumstances, but they all agree in two leading features. First, they all point to some terrible convulsion, to a revolution springing from the most deep-rooted impiety, consisting in. formal opposition to (rod and His truth, and resulting in the most formidable persecution to which the Church has ever been subjected ; Bad, secondly, they all promise for this same Church a victory more splendid and' complete than she has ever achieved here below. We mny add another point upon which there is a remarkable agreement ia the catena of modern prophecies, and that is the peculiar connection between the fortunes of France and those of the Church and the Holy See, as aLo ihe large part which that country has still to play in the histroy of the Church nnd of the world, and will continue to play to the end of time. Pius IX., iudeed, is reported to have addressed those encouraging words to the Bishop of Poitiers, when speaking of the calamities which the French were enduring : — ' Let them console themselves, and hope in the midst of their terrible triab, for France shall not perish, God has great designs in her regard, and she will be more tt an ever the firm support of the Church.' And Mgr. Dreux Broze, Bishop of Moulins, in an attention which he delivered after his return to his diocese, declared that the Holy Father had said to him, * I\o, no, France shall not perish ; it' France were to perish it would be a sign that those evil days which are to precede the end of time had arrived.'

The Revolution first attacked "France, which we have seen bruisod aid lacerated by its fangs, ** n cl from thence it has extended, and yet has to extend, its ravages to other lands, but everything leads us to espect rcno ration to spring from the same quarter whence the evil arose. ' France,' says P. Calixte, ( the first to be punished for excesses, will also be the first to avise, by a sudden and, as it were, miraculous restoration under a good and wise monarch. She will then aid the other nations to stifle in their bosoms that revolution which they have received from her.' These anticipations may be 6aid to express the hopes and confident expectations of Catholics, as they are also suppOi ted by the general voice of modern prophecy reckoning from the first formation of Christendom.' We need scarcely add that in recording any unfulfilled prophecies either of Anna Maria Taigi or of others, however well attested, we are not presuming to pass any confident judgment respecting them. We know that the gift of prophecy, like ths gift of miracles, is possessed bj the Church of God, but, apart from and previous to any pronounce-

ment of the Holy See, we have no title to do more than express witli all submission an opinion in regard to any particular prophecy aB ia regard also to any alleged miracle. One of the errors of which we are especially bound to beware, is that of fixing the precise time for the accomplishment of this or that prediction. ' Many of the faithful,* says P. Curieque, ' strike upon this rook of dates ;' and ho proceeds to quote a very apposite remark of the Cur 6de Malerable (who is said himself to have received supernatural lights): 'We must be very reserved,' says the Cure", ' in our applications and, above all, in fixing epochs. I have myself often been deceived by judging of things after the manner in which we commonly judge of the distance of objects which we view against the horizon. If, for instance, you look at several summits of mountains in the same direction, you may perhaps be able t i calculate with tolerable accuracy the distance which separates you from thft j nearest, but, as the wid6 valleys which, are on the opposite side are hidden from your sight, you readily believe, and are often mistaken ia this belief, that the second peak is very near the first ; nay, you sometimes fancy that both rest on tho same base. He for whom the Lord vouchsafes to lift up a little the veil which conceals the future, is liable to fall into this error when the epoch of certain future events remains concealed : he judges that these latter facts follow close upon their precursors, and this often is not the case.' 'If the seer himself may thus be deceived,' adds P. Curieque, ' what of us short-aighted ones ?' Precipitation in fixing the date for the fulfilment of prophecies is the parent of subsequent incredulity. Persons who have suffered this disappointment come to despise all prophecy save that which they are bound by faith to believe, as being contained "in the inspired record. But surely this attitude of mind is an unfortunate one, to say the least. One who thus puts aside almost with contempt all modern propheej suffers a loss,- since assuredly, if God lias bestowed this gift upou Hia Church, it was intended for our consolation, encouragement, and support, as well as to maintain fresh ia our minds what is so easily lost, ' the remembrance that we have no abiding-place amongst these gross, material, and transitory tilings which go to build up our present earthly state, but that we seek ' a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God,' looking for the setting up of that spiritual kingdom which shall finally break in pieces and supplant all the empires of the world. ' Despise not prophecies,' says the Apostle ; ' 4 but prove all things : hold fast that which is good.' Ia these few words we have both a command and a caution, summing up all that we need for our direction and guidance. AW* A MAMA'S GIFT OF HEALINGk The power of healing was communicated to her in a vision not long after her conversion, at the time she inhabited the house in the littl6 Straiada Sdrucoiqlo, near the Chigi palace. We possess the account put on record by cardinal Pedicini, to whom she frequently related all the particulars. She was seriously ill at the time, and during one night great fears were entertained of her life, when, towards the dawn of day, the Lord Jesus appeared to her. Hi 3 demeanour, as she described it, was that of affectionate confidence. He was arrayed in a violet-colored garment, over which he wore a magnificeut blue mantle, the wide folds of which he spread over her bed. • She told me,' says the Cardinal, 'that Hi's beatify and gr ice were marvellous to behold. He took her hand, and It^pr it pr«>-.ftJ closely in His own, while He held a long conversation with her. It was then that he told her that He chose her for His spouse, and that He communicated to her the gift of healing the sick by the touch of that hand which He held clasped in His own. He also cured her instantaneously of all her own maladies.' So intense had been the joy of that interview that, when Jesu3 left her, she felt a pang of sorrow so poignant that it extracted from her a loud cry of anguish, which was heard all over the house and speedily brought all the terrified inmates to her badside. She reassured them as bo3t she might, for she did not tell them of the vision, saying only that she was perfectly cured ; and, in fact, shortly afterwards she arose as usual, and went to Communion at the Madonna dclla Pieta, no vestigo rem lining of her late illness.

Tho witnesses who made their depositions in the canonical procoss testified to a very great number of miraculous cures whiih had been wrought by her and duly attested. Cardinal Pedicini alone hud fciken. notes of hundreds of which he had cognisance at the time they were performed ; aud thousands more, he added, have never been recorded. ludeed amongat the different supernatural gifts which she received there seem 3to have been none w'lich she more liberally used for the benefit of her neighbor. We have seen her exert it evon in favor of animals. The greater number of her cures were operated during tho first years which followed h»r conversion, when, as we have related,, her services were continually requested on behalf of the sick ; and it may be added that, in devoting so much of her time to this external work of charity, she acted m strict obedience to her confessor. Her miraculous cures, however, were not all performed by the immediate touch of her hand ; commonly, when called to the bedside of sick persons, she used to invoke the Blessed Trinity, then make the sigu of the Cross devoutly over them, and givo them her ivnage of the Blessed Tirgin to kiss. Several casi-s are recorded of her having healed persons afflicted with that most dreadful of all maladies, cancer, which may be regarded as well nigh incurable by human remedies ; the means she commonly employed being the application of oil f'rotn tho lamp which she kttpt ever burning before her Madonna. Ouo of these cases was that of a gentlewoman belonging to tho house of Albani, who could not resolve to submit to medical examination. Her confessor went to beg Anna Maria's assistance, who gave him some of the said cil, at the same time bidding him to exhort the sufferer to have faith. Its application removed the tunour that very ni^ht without the least pain. In the first fervor of her gratitude the gentlewoman expressed a strong desire to be made personally acquainted with her benefactress, and engaged to furnish us long as t>lio lived the oil for her Madonna's lamu. As time went on, however, she failed to keep her promise, and God punished her avarice by sending her various troubles and maladies, which entailed groat expends upon her. Mother Doria, of the Convent of St. Dominica c Sislo, from similar motives of modesty had concealed at its commencement the same terrible descase with Jwhich ehe/was afflicted. Growing worse, she sent

for the servant of God, and disclosed to her the nature of her malady ; adding,- ' You must set about curing me ; I "will not permit any doctor to examine me, and no one must know of my complaint.' It had now become really serious, for a wound had already formed; •My mother,' replied Anna Maria, ' you apply to a very bad person ; lam quite frightened at your speaking in this way. Do not you know that lam a poor sinner?' 'No matter, 1 rejoined the nun, 'you must cure me. I feel myaelf moved to ask this.' Then Anna Maria bade her make the sign of the Cross with the oil of her Madonna which she brought her, and the cancer disappeared miraculously. Another Religious of the Convent of the Bambin Gesu was to have an operation performed for the removal of a cancer. Anna Maria's prayers were requested. She replied, ' If the Religious has a great deal of faith the operation will not take place, but confidence is needed.' Uufortunately the nun as yet had very little. Her confessor labored to inspire her with the requisite sentiments, in which, if he was not entirely successful, the firm faith of the servant of God and the ardent charity of her prayera supplied what was deficient, for again the Madonna's oil worked a perfect and instantaneous cure. One day, as the Cardinal tells, whan Anna Maria was on her way to confession, she was surprised by a heavy shower of rain, and called at the house of an acquaintance to borrow an umbrella. The mistress, before fetching one, said, eWe have some one dying here.' The sick person was, m faot, at that very moment about to breathe her last ; she had received Extreme Uuction, and the priest's stole was laid on the bed. Anna Maria, entering the room, placed her hand on the head of the dying woman, and made the sign of the Orosß, invoking the Most Holy Trinity. 'Be at peace,' she then said ; ' the grace is granted ;* and went her way. Some hours passed, and then the woman spoke, partook of some food, and arose in perfect health.