Saint James of Bevagna

In the novitiate, he displayed a virtue that was already consummate. His silence was exact, his recollection continual, his obedience blind, his prayer attentive and fervent, and his mortification universal. At his profession, he made a perfect holocaust of himself, by consecrating entirely to God his mind, his heart, his appetites, his senses, and all that he could have claimed of riches, honors, and pleasures in the world.

Having applied himself to sacred studies, he acquired in a short time everything necessary to worthily fulfill the obligations of a preacher of the Gospel. He then ascended the pulpit with marvelous success; for, not only did he confirm good people in the love of virtue and convert a great number of sinners, but he also halted the detestable heresy of the Nicolaitans, which, as a dire consequence of the corruption of morals, was beginning to be reborn in Umbria. Ortinellus was i ts rev Ombrie Region under the jurisdiction of Torquatus. iv er; but ou Ortinellus Reviver of the Nicolaitan heresy, opposed by James. r Saint, having entered into a discussion against him, convinced him so evidently by the texts of Scripture and the authority of the holy Fathers, that he finally obliged him to retract his errors and to pronounce anathema against his own doctrine.

His zeal to multiply the number of evangelical laborers led him to undertake the foundation of a convent of his Order in the city o f Bevagna, of wh ville de Bévagna The saint's birthplace, where he founded a convent. ich he was a native. At first, he took only a very small house, which he purchased with a sum of money provided by his mother and relatives. But, shortly thereafter, he was given a church and several adjoining houses to build a monastery. At the same time, he encouraged a holy widow to build, in the same city, a convent for nuns, who embraced the Rule of Saint Benedict.

He was often superior in various convents of his province, and he always discharged the obligations of his office with great prudence, gentleness, and firmness. If his words were all-powerful in animating the religious to virtue and the exercises of the regular life, the examples of his life were incomparably more so. He slept almost not at all; he tore his body three times every night with very harsh disciplines, following the example of his Father Saint Dominic. He tightened his loins so much with an iron chain that it entered his skin and it was subsequently impossible to tear it away. His fasts were frequent and rigorous; on Fridays he fasted on bread and water; on other days, his food was always the poorest and vilest in the entire monastery. There is no tongue that can express the excellence of his purity, which was more than virginal.

God exalted so many virtues through very notable miracles. Bread and wine multiplied supernaturally in his hands for the sustenance of the workers who were laboring on his constructions. He delivered prisoners from their chains through the efficacy of his prayers. The oil and water that he had blessed healed various kinds of illnesses. People especially turned to him with great success in cases of falls, from whatever height and into whatever precipice one might fall.

Furthermore, neither this perfect innocence, nor this angelic purity, nor these divine communications, nor this great number of miracles, nor the gift of prophecy with which he was also endowed, prevented him from living in a continual fear of eternal damnation, and it was sometimes even so great that his soul was entirely penetrated by sadness and dread. Praying one day with extraordinary fervor at the feet of the crucifix, he urgently pressed Our Lord to lift his hope a little and to give him some assurance that he would not be among the number of the wretched reprobates. Then this divine Master caused a stream of blood to flow from his precious side, which sprinkled his face and his garments, and filled him with an inestimable sweetness. At the same time, this crucifix spoke and said to him: "Let this blood, my Servant, be the sign and the pledge of your salvation!" From that hou r, Jame Jacques Thirteenth-century Italian Dominican, renowned for his struggle against heresy and his foundations. s had no more fear, but was instead flooded with such delights that he was obliged to offer his prayers in private in order to receive them with greater freedom.

As the end of his life drew near, Jesus Christ, the Blessed Vir gin, Saint Domi saint Dominique Founder of the order whose rule Benvenuta follows and intercessor for her healing. nic, and Saint George, for whom he had a very special affection, visited him and invited him to come with them, in eight days' time, to receive the reward of eternal beatitude. Having fallen ill, he had the Sacraments administered to him, which he received with a devotion proportionate to his love. He then changed a vessel full of water into wine; something he had already done twice before. Finally, the same company that had invited him to the feast of eternity came to tell him that everything was ready, and that he should not delay in honoring the assembly of the Saints with his presence. He departed immediately, and the religious changed the prayers of commendation into those said for the soul that has just been separated from its body. Then a voice was heard saying: "Do not pray for him, but pray to him himself to be your intercessor before God."

His body, in the space of three hundred years, was discovered three times to be transported to more decent places, and it was always found without corruption. There have been several revelations of his happiness; but the countless miracles he has performed since his death, and which he still performs at present, are more indubitable marks of it. His death occurred on August 15, the day of the Assumption of Our Lady, in 1301. His life was found among that of the Saints of the Order of Saint Dominic. Pope Boniface IX granted indulgences to those who would visit his relics on the first three days of May; and Pope Clement X permitted the entire Order of P reachers to cele Frères Prêcheurs Mendicant religious order founded by Saint Dominic. brate his feast solemnly on August 23.

Cf. Acta Sanctorum Acta Sanctorum Hagiographic collection cited as a source. .