spoken, I received notice that the whole of this Lent was to be passed by me in perpetual suffering. Praise be to God; all is too little to bear for His love. Meanwhile I unceasingly repeat-Blessed be the Cross! Blessed be suffering! I wish for nothing but the Will of God; I am satisfied with what is His divine pleasure; behold, I am prepared for everything."

It appears from her own accounts and from those of her companions that she continued to enjoy these favours, for such they must indeed be termed, during the entire remainder of her life, that is to say, for thirty-four or thirty-five consecutive years. We may infer from what she wrote twelve years after her first coronation, that the pain and the punctures then inflicted were permanent, and were felt by her more or less acutely. She was accustomed to feel them especially on all Fridays, as well as during the seasons of the carnival and Lent, but still more particularly during Holy Week. And wonderful to relate, notwithstanding the faintness, which rendered her scarcely able to support herself on her feet, she was endowed with such supernatural strength that she was able to transact all her business and to fulfil all her duties, while her desire for fresh torments was so intense that she repeated again and again—"My Lord, if it is Thou Who thus afflictest me, let Thy Hand fall still more heavily upon me, to the end that I may feel more pain."

When her directors were informed of what she had undergone, they commissioned Sister Florida Ceoli to examine her head, and to see if there were any visible marks to indicate the crown of thorns; and the following statement was made upon oath by that religious in the process of our Saint's canonization.

"I went to see her, and perceived that her brow was encircled with a colour approaching to red. Sometimes I observed thereon certain pimples like little buttons, of the size of large pins' heads. On other occasions her forehead was covered with purple marks like thorns, which reached down to her eyes. Then again I saw that one of these apparent thorns came down under her right eye, causing it to shed tears, and they were tears of blood, as I saw from the veil with which she wiped them away. I have witnessed this and similar occurrences, and have mentioned them repeatedly to the confessors who directed me to observe her." Her companions made depositions to the same effect.

Notwithstanding all this, the bishop, Monsignor Luc' Antonio Eustachj, was so anxious to proceed with caution, that he wished our Saint to put herself into the hands of medical practitioners, in order that it might be ascertained beyond all doubt whether these things proceeded from a supernatural cause or from any physical indisposition. This was ordained by God, that His beloved might acquire fresh merit, and that' the reality of her gifts might be rendered more than ever unquestionable. Accordingly they began to anoint her with a particular kind of oil, which caused her head to feel a burning pain. At the same time that she felt this external heat, the centre of her brain seemed to be cold as ice, on which account the doctors agreed to apply a hot iron to her head and to one of her legs. All present were astonished at the invincible firmness which she displayed during this painful operation. Not one of the religious had the heart to hold her she, however, assured the surgeon that he might begin without fear of any movement on her

part, and in truth she remained as still as if she had been insensible; so that afterwards Massani, her medical attendant, observed that he seemed to have been operating on a statue. Within a few days it became necessary to close the issue in her head, because it only served to increase her pain to such a degree that she was unable to speak, or to rest her swollen head on her pillow. Another hot iron was applied to her neck instead, but as it caused such violent irritation of the nerves as to preclude the possibility of repose either by night or day, the surgeons were obliged to close that wound also.

The physician then thought it expedient to try the effect of a seton in her neck. This was an operation frequently resorted to in the medical practice of those times, and consisted in perforating the skin with a good-sized needle or some other instrument of steel heated red-hot, by means of which a knot of cotton was introduced and permitted to remain there in order to keep up a species of running wound. One may easily conceive how extremely painful such a process must be. The nuns were so timid that they could not bring themselves to render the least assistance, or even to hand the heated needle to the surgeon, so the patient performed that office herself, although she was well aware that this operation would cost her far more pain than the hot irons had done. She endured it with her usual courage and calmness, and declared when it was over that the only fault she could find with it was its speedy termination. After a short time, the knot having broken, two similar setons were applied to her ears. But as the cold which she felt internally continued undiminshed, and as nothing seemed to relieve the pain of her wounded head, they

But as

changed their plans and cauterized her arm. this only aggravated her sufferings by occasioning violent convulsions and swellings both in her arm and leg, it was necessary to permit the flesh to heal. The medical professors would not, however, acknowledge themselves defeated; and twice more they tormented her by applying setons to her ears. But discovering at last that no remedy was of any avail, but that their efforts to benefit her had only made matters worse, they protested that their science had no power to cure diseases of that nature. Therefore the bishop and the confessors of Veronica were convinced that it was the Hand of God which had wrought thus on His highlyfavoured servant, and they committed her to the power of her Lord, Whose Will it was by means of these privileges to cause her to resemble Himself.

CHAPTER III.

SHE IS PROMOTED TO HEAVENLY ESPOUSALS.-THE MANNER IN WHICH OUR LORD PREPARED

AND

CONDUCTED THEM.

THAT most intimate union, the result of perfect love, which takes place between the soul and her God, is described in the pages of Holy Writ by the title of Espousals. Throughout the book of Canticles, the divine Spirit represents to us by the mouth of Solomon that burning intercourse of love which is exchanged between a holy soul and her Lord, who are introduced to our contemplation under the figure of a devoted bridegroom and bride. Jesus Christ Himself, moreover, in the Gospel of S. Matthew, sets

before us a picture of those wise virgins who are both invited and admitted to the heavenly nuptials. It has sometimes pleased our Lord, in the case of certain noble souls, to celebrate these spiritual nuptials with visible signs, and with external rites analogous to those which are practised by mortals on their bridal day. It happened thus to S. Catherine of Siena, and to a few more saints of the highest rank. Our Veronica was one of these favoured souls. In the preceding chapter we saw from her own account that on the occasion of her being crowned with thorns, our Lord made her understand that it was a token of His desire to espouse her. And truly, when her brows were encircled with His own diadem, she was considered by the divine King of Martyrs worthy to be His bride. Nevertheless, in order to render her still more deserving of a dignity so exalted, He was pleased to prepare her for it by means of many other gracious visions.

"One morning," she declares, "I was assisting at holy Mass, and became suddenly much absorbed. My heart was touched, and inflamed with a great desire to be entirely united to God. All at once it seemed as if God withdrew from me the use of my external senses, and informed me by means of an interior communication that He was about to make me His own by espousing me to Himself. This assurance caused my heart to leap for joy, and I felt as it were on fire. At the same time it was given me to understand the whole process through which I was to pass by way of preparation, and which was to be one of pure suffering. These beautiful tidings increased my longing to suffer."

She then goes on to declare that after this vision the mere repetition of the words, "My most diviné, Jesus, Spouse of my soul," would throw her into such