03-13-2021, 11:07 PM
Her executioners, seeing her perseverance, beat her with leather straps for three hours.
Now it happened that a spiritual daughter of the blessed woman, named Rita, needed to see her for some reason and went up the stairs to her room. She heard the sound of the repeated blows that the devils applied to her with great force.
Rita, wondering what was causing the noise, she came to the bedroom door and found it closed. She stopped to listen more carefully to what was happening inside. She then discerned more clearly both the sound of the straps and the voice of the tortured woman who continued to pray.
She called the blessed woman through the door and asked her to open it for her. Saint Frances of Rome answered with great effort:
- “I can't open it for you!”
A few moments passed and the servant of God finally came with great difficulty to open the door. The evil spirits had abandoned their victim when they heard the voice of the newcomer, as they always did when she was called by someone.
Rita entered and saw the woman she was coming to get. She no longer had any of the veils on her head that she usually covered herself with. All her clothes and face were covered with ashes, so much so that she was completely unrecognizable.
She also had her mouth full of it, so that her voice was unintelligible and barely perceptible. Moreover, her body was very cold.
The demons also tried to throw their valiant opponent into the fire; they failed to do so. Later they came back to attack her, three of them. One had taken the form of a lion; the other, that of a dragon, and the third, that of a snake.
They held open their mouths from which their tongues came out like burning torches. They rushed up and jumped up against their victim. She was experiencing great suffering in her body because of the heat, flames and bad smell emanating from them. Her pain was so intense that she fainted. Her guardian angel delivered her from these spirits. Later, there were two of them, and they scourged her with the bodies of dead snakes as whips.
Satan, in his many battles against Christ's servant, sometimes used terror and at other times treacherous advice.
The father of lies appeared to her as a rustic man with a stick in his hand, like a traveler.
- “I am,” he said to her in principal, “Saint Onuphrius. Since you have the desire to retire in solitude, I encourage you to come with me, because I have found a very beautiful place that will suit you perfectly.”
But the blessed woman discovered this new trickery and replied:
- “Wretched, I want to remain where it pleases my Lord. I want nothing more than to do His Will. As for you, the vilest of all beings, withdraw in the blessed name of Jesus Christ crucified and go into the abyss which is your home.”
The demon, hearing the name of Jesus, suddenly fell and hit the earth with his mouth. He got up and wanted to hit his opponent, but he didn't have the strength.
The threats of Lucifer's supporters remained ineffective, as they were exaggerated. This was the case when they wanted to suffocate her or hang her on a rope suspended from a pole.
Sometimes they presented themselves to her in a common form, as they did in the form of a herd of pigs; sometimes they constituted a whole merchant's house. In one of their assaults, where they had gathered as twelve, Saint Frances of Rome counted two lions, two dogs, two deer, two other wild animals and four men. All these fierce-looking spirits stood in front of her with great respect and stroked her like domestic animals. All she showed them was contempt. So, they all threw themselves against her. Some seized her on one side and others on the opposing side, and they fought among themselves. As they tormented her in this way, they threw a blazing fire out of their bodies.
It seems that Satan's supporters, panicked by the resistance of God's servant, lost all common sense. Didn't they imagine themselves presenting themselves to her under the figure of lambs and saying to her:
- “We are the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.” As they should have expected, their bold statement only got Saint Frances' disdain.
Irritated by her contempt, they turned into furious wolves and threw themselves at her to devour her. They were put to flight by her guardian angel.
They came back to attack and, to prevent her from looking at the light of the heavenly messenger, they collected some dust from the house and threw it in her eyes. This dust made her suffer but did not prevent her from seeing the splendor of the glorious angel, as well as the evil spirits.
During an illness that the blessed woman had, she was lying in a small bed in her son's room. One night, the demon dropped on her head the pieces of armor that were used to cover her son's war horse. The young man and the sister of St. Frances, called Perna, were awakened by the noise. They feared that she had suffered some serious injuries. But she reassured them by telling them that, thanks to Divine Protection, she had no wounds. However, she did not reveal her thoughts to them and did not tell them that the devil was the author of this annoyance.
The demons appeared to the servant of God on every occasion, and even in circumstances, that seem to us, to motivate their interference, but very weakly.
One evening, the blessed woman carried through her house a blessed lit candle. A devil in human form tried to make it fall.
Not succeeding, he rushed with a great impulse onto the candle and made it fall from her hands.
So, she took a second candle. It was not blessed. The Evil One put it out. She lit a third one, which had been blessed like the first one. The devil tore it off with rage from her hand, threw it on the ground and spat on it.
Saint Frances was very surprised that her persecutor had shown his contempt in this way for the third candle and not for the second.
She commanded him from God to explain this change in attitude. He replied that he had done so to testify his disdain and hatred for the blessings of the Church.
This answer was for the blessed woman advice that she retained. Whenever storms broke out in the air, she lit blessed candles and sprinkled her house with holy water.
It is under the disguise of ferocious animals, and more particularly lions hurling fire through their mouths and eyes, that the filthy spirits seem to have manifested themselves most often to Saint Frances of Rome. However, they also had fewer frightening appearances, although much less frequently.
One night, among other things, six of them presented themselves to her under the plumage of beautiful white doves, similar to those that the blessed woman often saw in her visions of celestial origin.
Despite this disguise, these six demons were recognized by the saint for what they really were. They then turned into stags, mistreated her and finally were made to flee by an angel of light.
The servant of God becomes a widow. One of her daughters in Christ, named Agnes, was sleeping in her cell. One night she woke up frightened, suddenly pulled out of sleep by the sound of the blows her superior was receiving.
She ran to her rescue and found her in a sad position, for the devil had lifted her up in the air and let her fall to the floor of her room.
Agnes, realizing that the victim of the diabolical mistreatments was very cold, recommended that she go and warm up by the fire.
The blessed woman refused to do so, lest her enemies rejoice in her retirement. She knew that the demons, after attacking and hitting her, fled sad and confused when they saw her firm and unshakeable in her trust in God.
Agnes having left Saint Frances, the Evil One struck her again with such force that another nun named Jacqueline, heard the blows and entered her cell to assist her. She found her on her knees, bending her shoulders under the hand of her executioner, but she did not see the one who was hitting her.
Very often the spiritual daughters of the blessed woman found her thrown to the ground, cold, reduced almost to agony. Agnes especially, who was sleeping in her cell, often made these observations, but neither she nor any of her companions saw the demons.
When they heard noise in her cell, they came running to help her; but she answered them with great serenity of mind:
“Go away! Go away!”
They also heard her sometimes invoking the name of Jesus and at other times giving Him thanks for the victories He had allowed her to win over her enemies.
One time that Saint Frances was sick and lying down, the devil, in the presence of Sister Agnes and other witnesses, took off the blankets from the bed and opened and closed the window of the room.
The nuns saw the movement of the window and blankets but could not see what caused these movements. For a long time, they searched in vain for the blankets and finally found them rolled under the bed.
The blessed woman made no reflection, except that this event had occurred with God`s permission.
Sister Perna affirmed that she had seen Saint Frances of Rome raised in the air to a considerable height by the evil spirits, and that, being dropped by them, she fell noisily on the floor of her room and then gave praise and thanks to God.
Sister Augustina assured that, for the use of her blessed mother in religion, who never drank wine, she had been accustomed to carefully washing a small vase, filling it every day with fresh, clear water and covering it carefully with a lid, lest some dirt fall into it. However, when the servant of God wanted to drink, she always found the vase full of flies.
As Sister Augustina was saddened to see that, despite all her care, she could not serve clean water to her superior, she said to her:
- “Don't be troubled. It is the demon who does this so that I don`t drink pure water from the fountain.”
Jean Mattiotti reports that after the death of the servant of God a Hungarian believed to be possessed, who was agitated by three devils, was brought by force to her tomb and he was delivered by spitting out three pieces of coal in front of everyone.
Now it happened that a spiritual daughter of the blessed woman, named Rita, needed to see her for some reason and went up the stairs to her room. She heard the sound of the repeated blows that the devils applied to her with great force.
Rita, wondering what was causing the noise, she came to the bedroom door and found it closed. She stopped to listen more carefully to what was happening inside. She then discerned more clearly both the sound of the straps and the voice of the tortured woman who continued to pray.
She called the blessed woman through the door and asked her to open it for her. Saint Frances of Rome answered with great effort:
- “I can't open it for you!”
A few moments passed and the servant of God finally came with great difficulty to open the door. The evil spirits had abandoned their victim when they heard the voice of the newcomer, as they always did when she was called by someone.
Rita entered and saw the woman she was coming to get. She no longer had any of the veils on her head that she usually covered herself with. All her clothes and face were covered with ashes, so much so that she was completely unrecognizable.
She also had her mouth full of it, so that her voice was unintelligible and barely perceptible. Moreover, her body was very cold.
The demons also tried to throw their valiant opponent into the fire; they failed to do so. Later they came back to attack her, three of them. One had taken the form of a lion; the other, that of a dragon, and the third, that of a snake.
They held open their mouths from which their tongues came out like burning torches. They rushed up and jumped up against their victim. She was experiencing great suffering in her body because of the heat, flames and bad smell emanating from them. Her pain was so intense that she fainted. Her guardian angel delivered her from these spirits. Later, there were two of them, and they scourged her with the bodies of dead snakes as whips.
Satan, in his many battles against Christ's servant, sometimes used terror and at other times treacherous advice.
The father of lies appeared to her as a rustic man with a stick in his hand, like a traveler.
- “I am,” he said to her in principal, “Saint Onuphrius. Since you have the desire to retire in solitude, I encourage you to come with me, because I have found a very beautiful place that will suit you perfectly.”
But the blessed woman discovered this new trickery and replied:
- “Wretched, I want to remain where it pleases my Lord. I want nothing more than to do His Will. As for you, the vilest of all beings, withdraw in the blessed name of Jesus Christ crucified and go into the abyss which is your home.”
The demon, hearing the name of Jesus, suddenly fell and hit the earth with his mouth. He got up and wanted to hit his opponent, but he didn't have the strength.
The threats of Lucifer's supporters remained ineffective, as they were exaggerated. This was the case when they wanted to suffocate her or hang her on a rope suspended from a pole.
Sometimes they presented themselves to her in a common form, as they did in the form of a herd of pigs; sometimes they constituted a whole merchant's house. In one of their assaults, where they had gathered as twelve, Saint Frances of Rome counted two lions, two dogs, two deer, two other wild animals and four men. All these fierce-looking spirits stood in front of her with great respect and stroked her like domestic animals. All she showed them was contempt. So, they all threw themselves against her. Some seized her on one side and others on the opposing side, and they fought among themselves. As they tormented her in this way, they threw a blazing fire out of their bodies.
It seems that Satan's supporters, panicked by the resistance of God's servant, lost all common sense. Didn't they imagine themselves presenting themselves to her under the figure of lambs and saying to her:
- “We are the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.” As they should have expected, their bold statement only got Saint Frances' disdain.
Irritated by her contempt, they turned into furious wolves and threw themselves at her to devour her. They were put to flight by her guardian angel.
They came back to attack and, to prevent her from looking at the light of the heavenly messenger, they collected some dust from the house and threw it in her eyes. This dust made her suffer but did not prevent her from seeing the splendor of the glorious angel, as well as the evil spirits.
During an illness that the blessed woman had, she was lying in a small bed in her son's room. One night, the demon dropped on her head the pieces of armor that were used to cover her son's war horse. The young man and the sister of St. Frances, called Perna, were awakened by the noise. They feared that she had suffered some serious injuries. But she reassured them by telling them that, thanks to Divine Protection, she had no wounds. However, she did not reveal her thoughts to them and did not tell them that the devil was the author of this annoyance.
The demons appeared to the servant of God on every occasion, and even in circumstances, that seem to us, to motivate their interference, but very weakly.
One evening, the blessed woman carried through her house a blessed lit candle. A devil in human form tried to make it fall.
Not succeeding, he rushed with a great impulse onto the candle and made it fall from her hands.
So, she took a second candle. It was not blessed. The Evil One put it out. She lit a third one, which had been blessed like the first one. The devil tore it off with rage from her hand, threw it on the ground and spat on it.
Saint Frances was very surprised that her persecutor had shown his contempt in this way for the third candle and not for the second.
She commanded him from God to explain this change in attitude. He replied that he had done so to testify his disdain and hatred for the blessings of the Church.
This answer was for the blessed woman advice that she retained. Whenever storms broke out in the air, she lit blessed candles and sprinkled her house with holy water.
It is under the disguise of ferocious animals, and more particularly lions hurling fire through their mouths and eyes, that the filthy spirits seem to have manifested themselves most often to Saint Frances of Rome. However, they also had fewer frightening appearances, although much less frequently.
One night, among other things, six of them presented themselves to her under the plumage of beautiful white doves, similar to those that the blessed woman often saw in her visions of celestial origin.
Despite this disguise, these six demons were recognized by the saint for what they really were. They then turned into stags, mistreated her and finally were made to flee by an angel of light.
The servant of God becomes a widow. One of her daughters in Christ, named Agnes, was sleeping in her cell. One night she woke up frightened, suddenly pulled out of sleep by the sound of the blows her superior was receiving.
She ran to her rescue and found her in a sad position, for the devil had lifted her up in the air and let her fall to the floor of her room.
Agnes, realizing that the victim of the diabolical mistreatments was very cold, recommended that she go and warm up by the fire.
The blessed woman refused to do so, lest her enemies rejoice in her retirement. She knew that the demons, after attacking and hitting her, fled sad and confused when they saw her firm and unshakeable in her trust in God.
Agnes having left Saint Frances, the Evil One struck her again with such force that another nun named Jacqueline, heard the blows and entered her cell to assist her. She found her on her knees, bending her shoulders under the hand of her executioner, but she did not see the one who was hitting her.
Very often the spiritual daughters of the blessed woman found her thrown to the ground, cold, reduced almost to agony. Agnes especially, who was sleeping in her cell, often made these observations, but neither she nor any of her companions saw the demons.
When they heard noise in her cell, they came running to help her; but she answered them with great serenity of mind:
“Go away! Go away!”
They also heard her sometimes invoking the name of Jesus and at other times giving Him thanks for the victories He had allowed her to win over her enemies.
One time that Saint Frances was sick and lying down, the devil, in the presence of Sister Agnes and other witnesses, took off the blankets from the bed and opened and closed the window of the room.
The nuns saw the movement of the window and blankets but could not see what caused these movements. For a long time, they searched in vain for the blankets and finally found them rolled under the bed.
The blessed woman made no reflection, except that this event had occurred with God`s permission.
Sister Perna affirmed that she had seen Saint Frances of Rome raised in the air to a considerable height by the evil spirits, and that, being dropped by them, she fell noisily on the floor of her room and then gave praise and thanks to God.
Sister Augustina assured that, for the use of her blessed mother in religion, who never drank wine, she had been accustomed to carefully washing a small vase, filling it every day with fresh, clear water and covering it carefully with a lid, lest some dirt fall into it. However, when the servant of God wanted to drink, she always found the vase full of flies.
As Sister Augustina was saddened to see that, despite all her care, she could not serve clean water to her superior, she said to her:
- “Don't be troubled. It is the demon who does this so that I don`t drink pure water from the fountain.”
Jean Mattiotti reports that after the death of the servant of God a Hungarian believed to be possessed, who was agitated by three devils, was brought by force to her tomb and he was delivered by spitting out three pieces of coal in front of everyone.