a considerable quantity of the water which supplied in abundance the magnificent mansion of that family; and having conveyed it to the convent premises, she made a large fish-pond in the garden to receive it, so that it could be easily used to water the plants and herbs. She likewise furnished the kitchen, the infirmary, and in fact every part of her monastery with this essential element, by means of leaden pipes, which were presented out of devotion by Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, so that the appointments of this convent were inferior to those of no other religious house.

It is not surprising to find that an authority at once so wise and holy was profitable and acceptable to all, that the religious, having experienced the blessing of being governed by her, did all they could to prolong the term of her power, and that she continued to be their abbess until death took her from them.

BOOK II.

CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY GRACES BY MEANS OF WHICH SHE WAS RAISED DURING THE LAST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS OF HER LIFE TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF SANCTITY, AND RENDERED THE LIVING IMAGE OF JESUS CRUCIFIED.

CHAPTER I.

MYSTERIOUS VISION OF A CHALICE, WHICH PREPARED HER TO REPRODUCE IN HER OWN PERSON THE PASSION OF OUR REDEEMER.

WE were able in the last book to catch no more than slight glimpses of the great sanctity of this glorious and heroic soul, for we were only considering the secular portion of her life, and the first fifteen years which she spent in religion, and merely glanced at the latter portion of her mortal career in our mention of the various offices which she successively fulfilled for the community. We now proceed to the last thirty-five years which she passed on earth: which indeed present to our contemplation a new kind of life, which the apostle might have termed the life of Veronica hidden in Christ, or the life of Christ in Veronica for we shall see that she gloried in nothing save the cross of Christ, and that with Him she was fastened to that cross in the truest and most real manner that is attainable by a human being, whereby she was fashioned after the likeness of Christ, and as it were, transformed into Christ. In describing this new life, we shall have to describe a long series of supernatural gifts of the most extraordinary nature; and if the narration of these should awaken in the mind of the reader any suspicion of exaggerations or fanciful delusions, we would entreat him to weigh well the won