anchors. They invoked the help of all the saints and were worn down by their exertion, but could not recover even one after a whole day.

One of the sailors was named Perfetto, though he was perfectly good for nothing. He despised everything that belongs to God. ^{Mt 22:21} With malice he scoffed and said to his companions, "You have invoked the aid of all the saints, and as you see not one of them has helped. Let's call that Francis. He's a new saint; let him dive into the sea with his capuche and get our anchors back. We can give an ounce of gold to his church, which is just being built in Ortona, if we decide he helped." The others fearfully agreed with the scoffer, but they rebuked him by making a vow. At that very moment the anchors were suddenly floating on the water with no support, as if the nature of iron had been changed into the lightness of wood.

⁸²A pilgrim, feeble in body, and not quite sound in mind because of a bout of madness he had suffered, was traveling with his wife by ship from regions overseas.^a He was not completely free of his illness and was troubled by a burning thirst. As the water had run out, he began to shout loudly, "Go confidently, pour me a cup! Blessed Francis has filled my flask with water!" What a wonder! The flask they had left void and empty they now found filled with water.

Some days later a storm came up and the boat was being swamped by the waves and shaken by strong winds so that they feared they would be shipwrecked. That same sick man suddenly began to shout around the ship, "Get up, everyone, come to meet blessed Francis. He is here to save us!" And with a loud voice and tears he bowed down to worship. As soon as he had seen the saint the sick man recovered his full health; and, on the sea, calm ensued.

⁸³Brother Giacomo of Rieti was a passenger on a small boat making a river crossing. At the shore, his companions disembarked first, and he prepared to get out last. But the boat's small raft accidentally overturned, and while the pilot could swim, the brother was plunged into the depths. The brothers on shore with tender cries called on blessed Francis and tearfully insisted that he save his son. The drowning brother too, in the belly of a great whirlpool, could not call with his mouth, but called out from his heart as well as he could. See! With the help of his father's presence he walked across the depths as if on dry land. He caught hold of the overturned little boat and reached the shore with it. More wonderful still, his clothes were not wet: not a drop of water clung to his tunic.

⁸⁴Two men and two women with one child were travelling by boat across the Lake of Rieti. The little boat accidentally shifted to one side

 Previous

Next