Saint John of Capistrano

Everything in the world smiled upon him; fortune and honors had come to him, and had made him, in a short time, one of the happy ones of the earth. But God, who had not endowed him with fine qualities to make him a slave to the world, permitted a salutary bitterness to mingle with his joys. In an instant, the course of his prosperity was hindered, and the flattering hopes of his fortune were dissipated.

The inhabitants of Perugia, having allied themselves against the King of Naples, had to sustain a war that was not to their advantage. As John was born a subject of the King of Naples, he was suspected of favoring the party of that prince and of maintaining intelligence with his army. He was arrested: it was in vain that he justified himself and proved with evidence that he had only wished to arrange an accommodation between the two parties; he was nonetheless thrown into prison, where he waited long and in vain for the King of Naples to take an interest in his favor. This neglect by a prince whose interests he had served, and the ingratitude of the inhabitants of Perugia, caused the prisoner to make serious reflections on the instability and nothingness of the goods of this world. At the same time, his young wife died, and, all his ties being broken, he resolved to serve no other master than God.

By his order, his goods were sold, his ransom was paid; and, from his prison, he went to t monastère du Mont, près de Pérouse City where the saint studied law and began his career before entering the convent there. he monas tery of the Mount, near Règle de Saint-François Global order in which Raynier is honored. Perugia, where the Rule of Saint Francis was observed in all its purity. He was received there; but the guardian, fearing that this vocation was the effect of a passing spite rather than a movement of grace, wished to test him with everything he could imagine that was most humiliating and painful.

He ordered the postulant to go around the city of Perugia, mounted on a donkey, covered in a poor habit, and wearing on his head a sign on which various sins were written. It was a strange test for a man who had appeared with brilliance in the city, and who had made for himself a high reputation for wisdom, prudence, and discretion. But John had not left the world by halves; he was delighted to be able to stifle within himself, on this occasion, even the last remnants of the spirit of the world. After such a test, the other humiliations of the novitiate cost him nothing more. Yet they were terrible. As he had begun late, God wished to make him advance rapidly through heroic acts; measuring the depth of the foundations by the future height of the edifice, the Lord exercised him through humiliations proportionate to the great design He had for him. Twice, John was driven out of both the novitiate and the convent, as incapable of ever fulfilling even the lowest tasks of religion. He remained day and night at the door of the convent, suffering with joy the indifference of the religious, the mockery of passersby, and the contempt of the poor themselves who came to ask for alms. Such heroic perseverance disarmed the severity of the superiors, by dissipating all their fears; John was received again and, finally, admitted to profession.

Before his first religious communion, he fasted for three days without taking any food, and spent all that time in continuous prayer and tears. Once professed, he undertook a truly admirable life. He afflicted his flesh with frequent disciplines and almost continuous fasts: he ate only once a day, and, although meat was not forbidden in his Order, he went thirty-six years without eating any. He had no other bed than the floor, and his sleep was usually only two or three hours. For the first seven years, he did not use sandals, neither in the convent nor outside, but always walked barefoot on the ground. He did not seek to soften the inconveniences of travel, and it was only in old age, when his strength failed him, that he could be persuaded to travel otherwise than on foot. He loved poverty so much that he wanted only vile, narrow, worn, and patched clothes. Honor was unbearable to him, and he fled from it with more eagerness than the ambitious have to procure it for themselves. Besides the divine office, which he recited with angelic devotion, he said every day the Hours of Our Lady, the Office of the Dead, the seven penitential Psalms, and other particular prayers; and if his occupations had prevented him from fulfilling them, he found time on other days to repeat them two or three times. Being ordained a priest, which happened when he had taken his vows, he said Mass every day with tears in his eyes, and in such a holy and pious manner that he inspired piety in all those present. He also had his set times for mental prayer and meditation.

His primary occupations were to assist the sick in hospitals and to preach the word of God everywhere. He succeeded so admirably that there are few preachers in the course of all the ecclesiastical centuries who could be compared to him. The General of his Order, seeing his austerities, his mortification, his devotion, and his zeal for the salvation of souls, said of him, as if by a prophetic spirit, that he would be the ornament of the religion and the model of all regular virtues. He became the disciple of Saint Bernardine of Siena, as much for hi saint Bernardin de Sienne Franciscan saint whose canonization drew Didacus to Rome. s own spiritual advancement as to make himself more capable, under his guidance, of announcing the word of God to the people; and it is impossible to say how much he profited in such a holy school. He gave illustrious testimonies of this, whether in the books he composed, which are full of piety and erudition; or in public discussions, where he always appeared as a man of extraordinary capacity; or in private conferences, where he answered on the spot all kinds of questions, however thorny they might be; or finally by an infinity of beautiful actions, which earned him the approval of all honorable persons. He drew, so to speak, from the heart of this Saint a holy and respectful devotion toward the Blessed Virgin. When he preached her praises, his face was seen to be all on fire and shining with light. Sedulius, a famous writer of his Order, protests having been an eyewitness to this. One day, as he was proclaiming her greatness, a star of admirable splendor appeared above his head, and another time this Queen of Angels herself presented him with a chalice full of a celestial liquor, the sweetness of which filled his whole heart with an inexplicable joy. In his gratitude for the instructions he had received from such an excellent master, he went to Rome to justify him against the calumnies that had been sown against him, as if he had taught errors under the pretext of inspiring devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. And he justified him so perfectly in the presence of the Pope and the cardinals that they recognized very evidently the innocence of the accused saint.

Dead to himself, John lived only for Jesus and for Jesus crucified. His life was a continual prayer, which the most active labors could not interrupt. When he was on his knees, at the feet of the crucifix or before the tabernacle, one would have said he was rapt in ecstasy; the tears that flowed from his eyes manifested the sentiments of seraphic love with which his heart overflowed. To the ardent love he had for Jesus Christ corresponded his tender devotion toward the most holy Virgin Mary. "Providence," he said, "gave me the name of John, so that I might be the faithful disciple of Jesus, and the most loving son of Mary."

Preaching one day in Aquila, he was commenting, while applying them to Mary, on these words of the Apocalypse: *Signum magnum apparuit in cælo*: "a great sign appeared in heaven"; all those present were able to see a brilliant star that hovered above the audience, casting its rays upon the face of the holy preacher.

The March of Ancona, Apulia, Calabria, and the entire Kingdom of Naples were the first theaters where the zeal of John of Capistrano was exercised. But soon this new Paul required wider horizons; he traveled successively through Lombardy, the State of Venice, Bavaria, Austria, Carinthia, Moravia, Bohemia, Saxony, Poland, and Hungary, and everywhere he brought about striking conversions. At the end of a sermon he gave in Aquila on the vanity and dangers of the world, women brought their vain ornaments and all the objects that had so often been occasions of sin for them and for others, and they cast them into a great fire lit near the pulpit: the same thing was seen to happen in Nuremberg, in Leipzig, and in several other places. In Prague, in Bohemia, following his sermon on the Last Judgment, more than a hundred young men embraced the religious life, most of them in the Order of Saint Francis.

In Moravia, he converted four thousand Hussites and composed a book to combat their errors. The Jews themselv Hussites Religious movement considered heretical that the saint fought in Moravia. es felt the effects of the zeal of this tireless Apostle; their hardening could not withstand the charity of a man so powerful in works and in words; a great number of them converted following his preachings. Finally, the Turks, those mortal enemies of the Christian name, if they refused to open their eyes to the lights of the faith that the Saint brought everywhere, were at least forced to retreat before the activity of his zeal and the effectiveness of his prayers.

The sovereign pontiffs Martin V, Eugene IV, Pius II, Nicholas V, and Callixtus III often employed John of Capistrano in important affairs. The Saint was successively inquisitor of the faith in Italy, apostolic nuncio in Sicily, then in France to Philip, Duke of Burgundy, and Charles VII, King of France, apostolic commissioner in Germany, and finally legate and director of the Crusade against the Turks. Everywhere his negotiations were crowned with success. Several Popes wished to raise the Saint to the episcopal dignity; but all their efforts and the wishes of the populations failed against the humility of the servant of God.

However, while working with such glory for the good of the whole Church, John of Capistrano did not neglect the particular good of the Order of Saint Francis. Wherever he went, he made regular discipline flourish again. Through his care, the General Chapters sanctioned useful regulations intended to revive the original spirit of the Order. Finally, he was of powerful assistance to Saint Bernardine of Siena i n the foundation of the r saint Bernardin de Sienne Franciscan saint whose canonization drew Didacus to Rome. eform known as the Observance.

He had a singular grace for reconciling enemies. He appeased a great sedition in Rieti by restoring life to a poor man whose head had been split in two. He reconciled the city of Aquila with Alfonso, King of Aragon; he reunited the noble houses of the Oropesas and the Lauxievèses, which had long maintained a troublesome enmity between them. He compelled a father to forgive the one who had murdered his son, and who had made him eat his liver. Finally, he was so powerful in works and in words that no one could resist what he asked of him. He stopped the rain in mid-air during his sermons; he imposed silence on birds that were interrupting him during that time: a dishonest boatman having refused to ferry him across the Po, he crossed that great river on dry land on his cloak.

In 1455, he attended the diet held at Neustadt, and, through his fiery exhortations, he encouraged the people to take up arms against the Turks, formidable enemies of the Christian name. This war, however, was deferred by the death of Pope Nicholas V, who was its pape Nicolas V Friend of Albergati, whose election to the pontificate he predicted. primary instigator.

Under Callixtus II I, his succ Calixte III Pope who ordered the revision of Joan's trial. essor, who vowed to use all his strength and even the last drop of his blood to retake Constantinople, Ladislas, King of Hungary; John Hunyadi, Voivode of Transylvania; George, Prince of Rascia, the palatines, and the greatest of the kingdom wrote to the servant of God and implored him to come to them to lift the dejected courage of the faithful. He went there, after having obtained the Pope's permission; he inspired new courage in the army assembled at Buda; finally, by an express order of His Holiness, after having received the cross from the hands of the Cardinal of Saint-Angelo, legate of the Holy See, he rushed to the relief of Belgrade, whi ch Mehme Belgrade Site of the major victory against the Turks in 1456. d II h ad besiege Mahomet II Ottoman Sultan who besieged Belgrade. d. He had with him more than forty thousand men—French, Italians, Germans, Bohemians, Poles, and Hungarians—whom he had gathered through the fervor of his preaching; but he alone was worth an entire army. On the way, he received assurances that the Christian arms would be victorious through an arrow he saw fall from the sky, bearing these words in letters of gold: "John, fear not, you shall triumph over the Turks by the virtue of my name and the holy cross that you carry." This vision dissipated the sadness that had enveloped his heart, and it also gave marvelous vigor to the soldiers who were informed of it. He therefore approached the place; and despite the diligence and efforts of the Turks, he entered it with great glory. Subsequently, he generously withstood all the enemies' assaults, carried out very advantageous sorties, drove them from their entrenchments, defeated them in their lines; and, to crown his victories, he compelled them to lift the siege and withdraw shamefully after several days of open trenches. The great sultan, who called himself "the terror of the universe," was himself wounded at this siege by an arrow, and it is said that forty thousand Turks lost their lives there; very few Christians died.

Our Saint, who was always at the head of the troops when they made a sortie, received no wound; but, as if God had reserved him for the world only for this great action, shortly after he was afflicted with a daily fever, accompanied by very acute pains, and he had assurances that the end of his life had come. Such happy news made him forget the severity of his ailments, and he did nothing, in the greatest violence of his convulsions, but bless God and testify to Him that he did not suffer as much as he deserved and wished to suffer. Desiring to die in the arms of his brothers, he asked to be transported to their convent of the Observance of Villech, near Sirmich, in Hungary. The king, the queen, and all the great lords of Hungary went to v Villech, près de Sirmich, en Hongrie Place of the saint's death in Hungary. isit him there, and his room was always full of people of quality, whom he exhorted to live as Christians. He confessed often during his illness; he received the Viaticum, lying on the ground; he responded to all the prayers for the dying. Finally, he expired holily, on October 23, 1456, at the age of 74. One could justly call him a martyr; for heretics gave him poison twice to make him die, and he died effectively only from the immense fatigues he had undergone in the defense of the city of Belgrade against the infidels. He had refused two bishoprics, saying cleverly to excuse himself that, Our Lord having given him the whole earth, it was not reasonable that he should confine himself to such small places.

He is represented: 1st crossing the water on his cloak; 2nd raising the dead; 3rd holding his standard adorned with a cross, and in the other hand three nails.

SAINT GRATIEN, MARTYR IN PICARDY.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS.]

His body, after his death, remained as beautiful and as flexible as if it had still been animated; it was exposed for several days to the devotion of the people, and it was then buried in the cloister of the convent where he had died. His grave was furnished with chairs and iron locks, for fear that it might be removed.

When the Turks became masters of this place, it was transferred to another city. The Lutherans later plundered his reliquary and threw his relics into the Danube; then, the Catholics took care to pull them from the water and carry them to Elisc, near Vienna, in Austria, where he received the homage and veneration of the people.

The Reverend Father Arlus du Moustier, in his martyrology of the Saints of the Order of Saint Francis, says that God worked an infinity of miracles through the touching of his coffin and other things that had touched him; he also makes mention of a manuscript from the King's library, which has the title: *The Miracles of Brother John of Capistran*, where several are marked in detail; among others, up to twenty dead resurrected, demoniacs delivered, the blind, the deaf, the mute, and all sorts of other sick people healed; captives were also drawn from their prison and their chains.

Pope Leo X permitted him to be revered as a Blessed throughout the diocese of Salm, and to celebrate his feast there with a solemn mass and office. Gregory XV extended this permission to all the religious of his Institute; finally, he was canonized by Pope Alexander VIII, on October 16, 1690, and Benedict XIII published the Bull of his canonization in 1734.

The principal works of Saint John of Capistrano are: 1° A Treatise on the Authority of the Pope against the Council of Basel; 2° The Mirror of Priests; 3° A Penitential; 4° The Treatise on the Last Judgment; 5° The Treatise on the Antichrist and Spiritual Warfare; 6° Several treatises on various points of civil and canon law. His books on the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, and on the Passion of Jesus Christ (on which one may consult Benedict XIV, de Canoniz. Sanct.), as well as his works against Rokycana and the Hussites, have never been printed.

*Annales Franciscaines*, L. vi; *Annales de Wedding*; *Bull. rom.*, I. XIII. — Cf. *Vies des Saints personnages de l'Anjou*, by D. P. Dom Chassard; *Vie du Saint*, by Christophe de Vurise and Gabriel de Vérens; Fr. Henri Sédulius, *Hist. Seraphica*, seu S. Franc. et aliorum SS. hujus ordinis.