CHAPTER XXV.

Concerning manifold sufferings.

ONCE upon a time he came to a small town, and near the town there was a wooden image, a crucifix, which stood in a little house, as the custom is; and it was the popular belief that many miracles were wrought there, on which account people used to bring thither wax figures and much wax in honour of God. When he arrived opposite the crucifix, he went up and knelt before it; and then, after he had spent some time in prayer, he arose and proceeded with his companion to the inn. This kneeling and praying of his before the crucifix had been 104seen by a little girl, a child of seven years old. Now, the night following, there came thieves to the image, and they broke open the doors, and stole all the wax which they found there. As soon as it was day, the news came into the town, and was carried to the citizen who had the charge of the image. He inquired into the matter, in order to discover who had committed this great robbery. Upon which, the abovementioned child said that she knew well who had done it. And when she was pressed to make it known, and to point out the villain, she said:—No one is guilty of the crime except the brother, meaning by this the Servitor; for, she added:—I saw him yesterday kneel before the image, and then go into the town.

The citizen took these words of the child as truth, and repeated them on all sides, so that the calumny concerning the brother spread through the town, and he was charged with the crime on these slight grounds; and many an evil judgment was passed upon him, how that he ought to be killed, and, as a wicked man, to be put out of the world.

When the Servitor heard all this, he was filled with consternation, though he well knew that he was guiltless, and, with a deep groan, he 105said to God:—Alas, Lord! since it is my lot to suffer, and I must needs suffer, if Thou wouldst but give me ordinary sufferings, such as would not bring me to disgrace, I would bear them joyfully; but by destroying my good name Thou dost strike me to the heart in those things which of all others are the sorest to me. He remained in this town until the people ceased to talk about it.

It came to pass, in another town, that there arose a great outcry concerning him, so that the whole town and neighbourhood was full of it. There was a monastery in this town, in which there was a stone crucifix, of the exact size, it was said, of Christ Himself. Now, one day during Lent, fresh blood was observed on the crucifix, just beneath the wound on the side. The Servitor ran thither with the others to behold the wonder, and when he saw the blood, he went up and received it on his finger, in the sight of all who stood around. The concourse of people from every part of the town soon be came very great, and they forced him to stand forward before them all, and relate what he had seen and touched. He did this, adding at the same time the caution, that he pronounced no judgment about the matter, whether 106it was from God or man, but that he left this to others.

This story resounded far and wide through the country, and each person added to it what he pleased, and it was given out that the Servitor had pricked himself in the finger and rubbed the blood upon the crucifix, in order that it might be supposed that the crucifix had bled of itself, and that he had devised this through covetousness, with a view to draw a crowd of people thither, that he might plunder them of their property. The same evil report was spread abroad about him in other towns also.

As soon as the citizens of the town heard this calumnious tale, there was nothing left for him but to escape by night out of the place, and they pursued him, and would have killed him, if he had not got away. They even offered a large sum of money to whoever would bring him in alive or dead. Evil rumours of this kind were circulated in abundance concerning him; and wherever these tales reached, they were received as truth, and his name was greeted with many revilings and curses, and many an unjust judgment was passed upon him. Some persons, indeed, who knew him, were more reasonable; but, if they ventured to assert his 107innocence, they were so savagely put down, that they were forced to hold their peace, and let him perish in the world’s esteem.

An honourable lady, a citizen of the town, when she heard all the marvellous sufferings which the poor innocent man had undergone, came to him out of compassion, in the midst of his distress, and advised him to procure from the town a sealed testimonial of his guiltlessness, that he might take it with him wherever he went, for every one in the town knew well that he was innocent. He replied:—Ah, dear lady! if this were my only suffering, and if it were God’s intention to lay no other affliction upon me but this, I would apply for the testimonial; but as things are, so much suffering of this kind falls to my lot every day, that I must leave it to God and bear it.

At another time he set forth on a journey to the Netherlands, to be present at a chapter, and he found sufferings ready waiting for him on his arrival, for there came thither to attack him two persons of high position in the Order, who were very active in their endeavours to bring Mm into great trouble. With quaking heart, he was put upon his trial, and many things were laid to his charge, among which was the following:108—They said that he had written books containing false doctrine, which had defiled the whole country with heretical filth. In consequence, he was harshly and severely reprimanded, and he was threatened with heavy punishment, though God and the world knew that he was guiltless in the matter.

These crushing trials did not satisfy God, but He made their number still greater. He sent the Servitor a sickness on his journey home, and caused him to be attacked by a violent fever. Besides this, a dangerous abscess gathered inwardly, close to his heart; so that, what with interior anguish and outward sufferings, he came so near to death that his companion often looked at him to see whether the moment had not come for his soul to take its departure.

As he lay thus utterly wretched in a strange convent in bed, and could not sleep at night from the straits to which his grievous sickness had reduced him, he began to enter into account with God in this wise:—Woe is me, O just God, that Thou hast so exceedingly overburthened my sick frame with bitter suffering, and wounded my heart through and through with the great dishonour and shame that has been done me, and that I am thus encompassed 109with bitter anguish from without and from with in! When wilt Thou cease afflicting me, O gentle Father? When wilt thou deem it enough? Then he set before his mind the death-agony which Christ endured on the Mount of Olives, and while contemplating this, he crawled from his bed to the bench which stood beside it, for he could not bear to lie down, owing to the abscess.

While he sat thus in misery, it seemed to him in a vision that there came into the chamber a great company of the heavenly host to comfort him, and that they began to sing one of the songs of heaven, which rang so sweetly in his ears that his whole being was transformed by it. As they sang thus joyously, and the sick Servitor sat there so full of sorrow, a youth came to him, and said very lovingly:—Wherefore art thou silent? Why singest thou not with us? And yet thou knowest right well the song of heaven. The Servitor, with a sigh from his sorrowful heart, made answer, saying:—Alas! seest thou not how full of woe I am? When ever did a dying man rejoice? Do you want me to sing? I am singing now the wail of suffering. If I have ever sung joyously, that is all over now, for I am waiting only for the hour of 110my death. To this the youth replied right joyfully:—"Viriliter age.” Be of good cheer. Be joyous. Nothing of this kind shall befall thee. Thou shalt yet sing in thy lifetime such a song that God in His eternity shall be glorified, and many a sufferer consoled by it. Upon this, his eyes ran over, and he burst into tears, and at the same instant the abscess within him broke, and departed from him, and he was restored to health upon the spot.

Afterwards, when he reached home, there came to him a blessed friend of God, saying:—Dear sir, though it is true that on this journey you were more than a hundred miles away from me, nevertheless, what you suffered during it was quite present to me. I saw one day with my soul’s eyes the Divine Judge sitting upon His throne, and, by His permission, two evil spirits were let loose, who persecuted you by means of the two prelates who caused your sufferings. Then I cried to God, saying:—Alas, gentle God! how canst Thou bear to let Thy friend be in such great and bitter suffering! Upon which God answered me in this wise:—It is for this end that I have chosen him for Myself, that by means of these sufferings he may be fashioned after the image of My only-begotten 111Son. Nevertheless, My justice must avenge the great wrong that has been done him, by the speedy death of the two who have tormented him. This came to pass in very truth soon afterwards, and in such a way that many persons became aware of it.