Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-07-29

says of him. "If there ever was q true
lnd pious monk, 1t was Bernhard; l
never heard or read Of one like him, and
value him higher than all the monks
and priests of the whole earth" He was,
however, fanatical ascetic, and torment
ed his poor body in the most cruel man
ner, living frequently, together with his
monks, on beechtree leaves and coarse
barley bread. When he took, for the
strengthening of his weakened stomach,
some flour prepared with oil and honey
he, cried bitterly. He enjoyed a very high |
reputation, and when he once entered |
Milan his hands and arms were sore from
the kisses with which they were covered |
by the faithful. He might have become
Archbishop or even Pope, but he refused
all such honors Neither Pope nor EN-
peror dared enter his convent at Citeaux
on horseback both walked. Ho was the |
soul Of the second crusade, and his per- |
suasive tongue caused so many men to
take the cross, that in some cities only
one remained for every seven women. |
But the statistics of the sexes in those
cities, previously, are not recorded.
is, All the good, or at least, all the best
part of the good, which the Benedictne
converts might have effected, was annihi,
lated by the convents of the mendicant
orders, which combined the most servile
submission of reason to the worst super.
stiiion, with scandalous morals.
The idea of the mendic1nt orders orig
mated in the head of John Bernardoni,
good for,nothjpg son OF shopkeeper in
Assist, in Umbria, Heis known under the
name oof, st. Francis. of Assist, or the
I%scraphie father Not doing well in
his fathers business, he became soldier,
md 10 nj ral
is not clear how he became saint, for at
first ho appeared to be an idiot of whom
the inlali6le Pope Honorious himself said
:" that he was simpleton." He kept the
lowest company, wore the most filthy
rags, and piously robbed his father to get
means for the restoration of ruined
church. However, the Bishop of Assist
| took the simpleton under his protection,
and he went about the country begging
for his church, with such unexpected sue
cess that he conceived the idea of institut-
| ing q mendicant order. Though Pope
Honoriaus despised him, Innocent the
Third, eduiliy i1iarible, confirmed the
| code which Francis drew up for his new
order, notwithstanding His Infallibility's
having called it at first ga rule Tor pigs,
but not for human beings" at r
Aims" Francis declared, faro our
1
I Dur purpose and our royal dignity ig-
nominy and contempt are our honor and
our glory on the day of Judgment"
| Francis was the best examplc of humili-
| ty. In the commencement he was very
much laughed at, but after three or four
years the reputation of his sanctity stood
80 high that the clergy and people came
to meet him in procession when he ap
preached a city, and the bells of all the
churches welcomed him. The more the
street boys teased him, or pelted him
| with mud the better he was pleased.
| When he went about begging in Assist,
he put everything eatablc that he received
into the same pot, and when he became
hungry nc fed from the heterogeneous
mess. Once, invited TO dinner by q Car
! dinal, he did nOb touch any of the dainty
dishes, but stick to his pot, to the disgust
of all the guests. He loved the lower
\ animals very much, and called them his
brothers and sisters. He frequently
preached to geese, ducks, and hens, and,
when once the swallows and sparrows
disturbed him by their twittering, he ask.
ed his "dear sisters" to keep quiet. For
recreation, he rolled himself on thorns,
went up to the neck in freezing ponds
and slept in the snow. He died in 1925,
bat during his life the number Of Fran
ciscan monks was very great, and, after
his death, increased like sands on the sea
shore. The Franciscan General offered
Pope Plus the Third an army Of forty
! Thousand Frapcscans for the war against
the Turks. Though great many con-
vents were destroyed by the Reformation,
there were still existing, at the beginning
of the last century, seven thousand mon.
nasteTies and nine hundred nunDerie3 OF
this order.
The sworn enemies Of the FrancisoanE
were the Doninicans, whose origin dates
from about the same time. They are
named after st. DomipiCus, a Spaniard,
! whose name was Dominicus GuZman, He
was sent to France to convert some here
tics (the Wadenses), and there conceived
the idea of instituting monks order for
| the instruction of the people. He re-
| ceived permission from the Pope, and to
this order the Romish Church owes the
! introduction of the Inquis4tion and tho
censorship of books.
To conclude, politely with a few female
saints. St Theresa was q noble Spaniard
born in 1516. Her admirers give her very
high-soundihg names, as AK OF Wisdom
! Heavenly Amazone, Balingsrden Organ
! and Cabinet Secretary OF the Holy Ghost
| When still quite young, she intended &c
run off to the Egyptian desert; but, at II
years old, her parents thought it best tC
place her in the Carmeltan nunnery at st
Avila. The host flew on its own account
from the hand of the administering Bishop
into her mouth, ana then everybody
knew that she was o saint She became
abbessof nunnery at Pastrana, where O
seraph visited her, and slapped . her will
red-hot arrow several times The pair
was go sweet that she would have liked il
to continue forever. The Spaniards still
celebrate the anniversary OF this red-ho
tapping, on the 9th of August.
The nuns Of st. Theresa had to 60 bare
foot. Blind obedience was their prinoipa
law. a nun who made a wry face at baC
bread was stripped, tied to the crib of thu
donkey, and had to share for ten days hi
oats and hay. Such barbarous seVcritie!
enforced the blindest obedience. When
nun once asked st. Theresa who was t
sing On that day at the evening mass, sht
was in bad humor, and said, "The cat.
Therefore the nun took the cat under hel
arm, went to the altar, and, by pinchinl
its tail, made it sing as well as it could.
The nuns of st. Theresa slept OF
thorns, or in the snow drank from spit
toons, dipped their bread in rotten eggs
md pierced their tongues with pins, i
VhSJ DlOhC piNoiSS'
Nearly contemporary of st. There's
was an Italian, Catherine dc CaTdone. Sht
lived in cave, wore q dress interlaceC
withthorns and wire, ate grass like {
beast without using her hands, and once
tasted forty days. In this state she lived
three years. st. Passidea, g Cisterciar
nun of Sienna, beat herself with thorns
and washed the wounds with vinegar
salt and pepper. She slept on cherry
stones and peas, wore mailed coat OF
sixty pounds weight, immersed herself in
freezing ponds, aud once hung herself fol
q time, leet uppernost, IN smoky chin
neyl
st. Clari, of Amir, lived very severely
Inste&d af a shit, she wore dogs skin
or garment made Of horsehair; and she
was so humble that she would kiss the
feet Of dirty peasant girl without per,
hitting her to wash them first, After she
had esulhed them by her kiss "(then why
| 4 1aa nr1vA An1, IL,