Contessa di Courson

Estratto da The Catholic World (1895)

NOTA BIBLIOGRAFICA

di Giuseppe Pesce

NOTA BIBLIOGRAFICA

a cura di GIUSEPPE PESCE

Il lungo articolo della Contessa di Courson su Padre Lu­dovico da Casoria (1814-1885), significativamente intito­lato Un moderno San Francesco, uscì alla fine del1895 sul mensile The Catholic World: B. NEAVE [CoMTESSE DE 7'CousRON], A modern St. Francis, «The Catholic World», LXII (1895), n. 368, pp. 154-166. Di nobile famiglia inglese, Barbara Frances Mary Neave ( 1849-1931) sposò nel 1886 il conte Roger de Courson -prendendone il nome- con cui visse in Normandia; com­pilò diverse opere, tutte di tema storico-cattolico, curan­do tra l'altro il primo adattamento inglese della storia dei Gesuiti: B. NEAVE, The ]esuits: Their /oundation and hi­story, London, Burns & Oates, 1879, voli. I-II. L'articolo del1895 riprende la biografia di Padre Lucio­vico del Cardinale Capecelatro, tradotta qualche anno prima in francese e pubblicata a Parigi, con una prefazio­ne della scrittrice e filantropa Pauline Marie De La Fer­ronays in Craven: A. CAPECELATRO, Vie du P Ludovic de Casoria) d) aprés S. E. le cardinal A. C.) archeveque de Capoue, trad. di M. LE M oNNIER, Pref. di A. CRAVEN NÉE LA FERRONAYS, Paris, Perrin et Cie, Librairie academique Didier, 1892. Attraverso il mensile The Catholic World, che aveva uffici sia a Liverpool che a New York, la sintesi della Contessa di Courson arrivò fino in America (l'articolo è segnalato anche nel periodico dell'Unione cattolica per gli studi so­ciali in Italia, «Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali e Discipline Ausiliarie», IV (1896), vol. X, p. 126).

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A MODERN ST. FRANCIS. I 55

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A MODERN ST. FRANCIS.

BY THE COMTESSE DE COURSON .

. N authoress popular both in the old and in the new

world, the late Mrs. Augustus Craven, thus wrote of Fra Lodovico da Casoria, a N eapolitan Francis­can, with whom she was personally acquainted; "Those w ho knew Fra Lodovico can understand

\Vhat must have been the heart, the soul, and the mind of St. Francis himself."

In our busy and restless nineteenth century the history of the Neapolitan friar reads like a legend from the "Fioretti"; yet, by a strange contrast, this simple~minded monk, . so full of blind faith and of child-like enthusiasm, was keenly alive to the needs of the age in which he lived. If, on the one hand, he seemed to belong ~o the medi<eval group of brothers who once followed St. Francis over the fair U mbrian hills, o n the other, he appeared no less capable of filling his piace in our scep­tical, matter-of~fact age, for norie grasped more thoroughly than he did its virtues and its vices, its aspirations and its needs.

The son of poor but honest parents, Archangelo Palmen­tieri was horn in the little town of Casoria, in the kingdom of Naples. After an innocent boyhood, he joinèd the Franciscan Order and took the name of Fra Lodovico. At first nothing se.emed t o . distinguish him from the other religious ; h e was do~ cile and regular, but showed no signs of extraordinary fervor. Towards 1847, however, when he was at the Franciscan convent of San Pietro ad Aram, at Naples, a great change ·Carne over his soul. The words of the Gospel, " Be perfect as your hea:­venly Father is perfect," words often heard and often repeated before, suddenly struck him .with a new light. They became from that time the guiding rule of his life, the object of ali bis aspirations and of all bis thoughts. During the thirty-eight years that followed he never wavered or turned back in his up­ward path ; bis naturally loving heart and generous nature ex panded as his love of God increased, and his life from that

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moment is one long act of devotion to the wants of others. The eminent sanctity to which he attained, even more than

. his natura! gifts, can alone explain tbe influence he exercised

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A MODERN ST. FRANCIS. [N ov.,

on all who approached him. He was not an educateci man, he .

could no t even speak I tali an correctly, an d h e generally used only the N eapolitan dialect with which h e had been familiar from his childhood. But, although ignorant and . uncultivated as regards worldly lore, he had an innate appreciation of all that is good, great, and beautiful, even in the realms of art and science, where he possessed no practical kno\vledge.

The charitable works undertaken and carried out by Fra Lodovico were no less varied than humerous. He began by establishing, v1ith his superior's permission, an infirmary for the sick religious of his order; for, strange to say, the convent of San Pietro ad Aram did not possess one. He had often heard bis brethren lament over tbis state of things, but no one seems t o h ave h ad energy enough t o suggest a11 improvement. I t was a humble beginning enough; Fra Lodovico gave up half bis celi for the purpose, and by begging from door to door he col­lected sufficient money to establish a small pharmacy. · The success of this first attempt encouraged the worker, and, with renewed zeal and c.onfidence in God, he set about his next un­dertaking tbe revival of the Tbird Order of St. Francis. Here again God visibly blessed bis efforts; ere long men and women of every condition magistrates and workmen, princesses and peasants enrolled tbemselves under the banner of the Seraphic Father, as his children lovingly call him. In less than two years the Third Order numbered four hundred new members of both sexes. Fra Lodovico went from town to town, generally

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on foot, explaining in his simple, earnest way the advantages of an institution to which St. Louis, King of France, Dante, Giotto, and· Columbus were proud of belonging. To those· who ques­tioned him as to his mission, u I am a poor friar, Lodovico da Casoria," he used to reply; "my business is to draw Christians to perfection and to enroll them, if they wish it, in the Third · Order of St. Francis."

Among his tertiaries he selected a certain number who, though laymen, were free of their time and willing to de­vote themselves to charitable" works. He gave them a kind of religious habit, of a grayish color. "I like gray," Fra Lodovico used to say cheerfully; " it reminds me of death and gives me thoughts of humility and penance."

The Bigi, as these tertiaries were generally called, were Fra Lodovico's trustiest helpers, both in the prisons and hospitals of Naples, and later on· the African missions. Thus, in 1861,

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twenty-seven Franciscan friars set sail for the dark continent, · •

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A MODERN ST. FRANCIS. I 57

accompanied by five Bigi -a laborer, a shoemaker, and three carpenters; the following year they were joined by otbers.

By degrees Fra Lodovico~s sphere of action extended ; by dint of begging be collected enough money to buy, near Capo­dimonte, a house with a large garden in wbicb stood a splendid palm-tree. In this property, which was called Palma, he estab­lished a large infirmary destined especially for priests. The house, thougb well situated an d healthy; was terribly poor, mucb

. to Lodovico's delight, fqr be shared bis founder's chivalrous de-votion to " Our Lady Poverty." H·e related triumpbantly how tbe father-general of the Franciscans, having once visited Palma, was obliged to sleep on the bare floor with Fra Lodovico's cloak as a pillow ! .

The object of his next work was the salvation of the negroes ; •

o ne day, as h e was passing through the streets of Naples, an d praying God secretly to give _ him something more to do for bis fellow-creatures, he m~t two little negro boys, whom a boly priest from Genoa, named Olivieri, had just bought in a slave market in Egypt. Fra Lodovico begged to bave the boys sent to Palma ; he devoted himself to training and instructing them, and was delighted \\'ith their progress. "Wbat good soil I bave to cultivate! " be writes, alluding to tbe bappy dispositions of

• bis little neophytes. His success encoqraged him to extend bis work ; he remembered too how his father, St. Francis, bad loved Africa and longed for its conversion, and be determined witb Go d 's help t o do his bes t for the negro es. In Aprii, 18 57, h e sailed for Egypt, and, with the assistance of King Ferdinand of Naples, whom be had interested in his mission, be was ab le t o buy t\velve negro boys, whom he brought back to Palma. The . . good priest Olivieri, from wbose hands he had received bis first pupils, lent bim · bis cordial assistance, an d in the course of the following year, 1858, a college for negroes was foundeò at Naples under the direction of tbe Franciscans. The course of studies of this college was drawn up in view .. of the negro pupils arid their special needs. Tbey were eitber trained for the priesthood or taugbt a trade, acco~ding to their O\Vn desire and aptitude ; in any case, bo.th as priests or as laymen, they were formed to habits of solid. piety, and ali were eventually intended to return

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to Africa and there to labor for tbe conversion of tbeir coun-trymen by tb~ir teaching and their example. "Africa will be converted by Africa," often said Fra Lodovico.

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A sìmilar · institution for little black girls was founded ~oon afterwards and placed under the care of the Stimatine nuns .

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The ragged children of Naples excited our good friar's com­passion no less than the negroes of Africa ; it has ·been said, probably with some exaggeration, that there were at that time fifty thousand vagabond children in the streets and suburbs of Naples. He resolved to provi.de them with a Christian educa­tion and to tnake them useful men and women~ It is charac­teristic of Fra Lodovico that he began by giving his protégés a thorough washing, for this ardent lover of poverty was scrupulously clean. Two years later schools for boys and ·girls had been opened, and over one thousand little waifs had been withdrawn from idleness and its attendant temptations. Out of these three hundred were orphans, and were placed by t4eir benefactor in schools and convents; the others continued to live with their parents, but Fra Loçlovico undertook to clothe them and to ·bave them taught carpentering, book-binding, printing, and other trades. ·

Although he was unskilled in worldly knowledge, our hero had a singular power of treating questions which were appar­ently far beyond his grasp. His simplicity often recalled tne monks of medi<:eval times and reminded bis hearers of the com­panions of St. Fra~cis, with whom the " Fioretti " have made us familiar ; nevertheless he was well abreast of all modern progress and improvements, keenly alive to the .needs of his time, eager for its intellectual development. The contrast between these different aspects of his character gave him an individuality all his own.

He considered it a duty for Catholics to be thoroughly ar.med against the attacks of rationalistic science and philoso­phy~ "At a time like ours," he wrote, "priests and religious must not bury their talents "; and, with this object in view, be founded at Naples a Catholic academy, and appealed to ali Italians, priests and laymen, to help in the · work. In conse­quence of local difficulties the ·Academia . was eventually sup­pressed. Fra Lodovico bore the disappointment with his usual -cheerful resignation. "God has shown us that he does not wish us t o do this work," h e sai d ; " h e w ili se n d us something else to do instead and allow us to succeed."

The monthly review which he established at the same time as the Academia is still ftourishing. I t was calle d La Carita, an d its object, in our hero's own words, was to distribute to men ~' the bread of science," no less necessary in its way than the bread that feeds the body. The writers of the Carita were m en competent to discuss all the philosophical tand scientific

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A MODERN ST. FRANCIS. I 59

questions of the day; they possessed a knowledge and a cul­ture that were wanting in the illite_rate monk whose voice had gathered them together, yet one and ali recognized bis master­mind and listened, with touching deference, to his ideas . and .suggestions.

Inspired by the same desire to promote the intellectual development of the higher classes, Fra Lodovico bought the palace of the dukes of Atria and founded a college for boys of go od family. I ts success far · surpassed his ho p es ; but, after having placed the institution in the hands of a body of priests well qualified to direct it, our hero retired from the scene ;

. only now an d · then h e used t o come to chat with the boys, with whom his cheerful piety made him very popular, but none could guess that the humble friar, so gentle and unassum­ing, was the real founder · of the college.

N o kind of work seemed t o come amiss t o him : h e founded an order of nuns, the Elisabethines, Franciscan tertiaries, who

· were to take care of the sick poor and assist the dying. Three years later he established an orphanage at Florence. As usual he began \Vithout a penny. " Is your house furnished ? " asked

· the Archbishop of Florence, with whom he was dining. "No, my lord." " How, then, will your orphans sleep there to-night?"

• ·" Providence has helped me to begin, Providence will help me to go on," was the reply. .

On leaving the palace our hero went from door to door, begging for bits of old furniture, a few pots and pans, or even a little straw. By degrees the work developed ; to an elemen­tary school for infants were added work-shops where printing, tailoring, carpentering, and other trades were taught to the orphan boys. This was not Fra Lodovico's only work at Flor­ence. He also built a church in honor of the Sacred Heart, and, marvellous to relate, this church was begun and completed

. in the course of one year. At Assisi, the birthplace · of ~is beloved founder, our hero

established an asylum for deaf and dumb children. At first he had scanty means to carry on the work. "No one has given me ~nything as yet," he wrote; "all the b~tter ; this only shows me that our work is the work of Provi d ente- an d t ha t w e shall .

want for nothing." The present Pope, Leo XIII., was then Archbishop of Perugia; he entrusted two little mutes belonging to bis diocese to Fra Lodovico, but wondered at the founder's extreme poverty. '' How will you provide for your children?" he inquired. "Providence is there," was the reply. "O man

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of faith ! " exclaimed the <:trchbishop ; "yes, indeed, I ·feel cer-tain that Providence will assist you."

. In addition to these different works, the unwearied apostle

founded a refuge for destitute sailors and a hospital for scrofu-· lous children a t Pausilippo, near Naples ; a Franciscan convent in his native Casoria; and a hospital for women at Monte Corvino. One of his last works was of . a different order and

. reveals the artisti c an d patriotic si de of his character. H is filial love for St. F~ancis had long made him wish to raise a monu-

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ment worthy of the saint. He wished this monument to be placed a t or near Naples, an d t o be a perpetuai memoria! of tbe influence exercised by the Serapbic Father over the intellec­tual development of bis countrymen. The work was executed under his direction, at the cost of great difficulties ; it repre­sented the saint of Assisi surrounded by three great Italian tertiaries: · Dante, who proudly boasted of the Franciscan cord that he always wore ; Giotto, the glorious painter of the sanctu­aries of Assisi"; and Columbus, who was received into the third order by the Franciscan prior of Santa Maria della ~abida.

The monument was inaugurated at Pausilippo on the 3d day of October, 1883, amiqst an immense concourse of spectators .. The Archbisbop . of Naples was present, "'·ith severa! bishops, numberless priests an d monks, besides laymen of every condi-. tion, princes, military men, members of the government, peasants, and workmen. The ceremony \vas, at Fra Lodovico's special request, followed by ·a banquet, w bere . five thousànd p o or peo­p.le were waited upon at table · by tbe prelates and noblemen present ; it was fitting that the humble clients of "our dear Lady Poverty" should be represented a t this .glorious festival.

The manner in wbich our hero carried out his charitable \vorks is perhaps more striking even than the number and variety of those works themselves. As Mrs. Craven rightly observes, he had many traits of resemblance with his father St .. Francis; bis simplicity, his kindness, his love of poverty, bis

. artistic instincts and poe.tic temperament, recalled the Saint of Assisi ; certain incidents of his life seen1 taken from the " Fior­etti." .

St. Francis was a musician and a poet, and his · contempor-•

·ari es speak with enthusiasm of the hymns of which h e com-posed both the music and the poetry; they breathe throughout a humble, loving, joyous spirit, sucb as breaks fortb in ali Fra Lodovico's writings. His letter to death reminds us forcibly of the Seraphic Father's well-known hymn, the Alleluia of Assisi,.

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A MODERN ST. FRANCIS. ,

as it is generally called : " O Death ! my dearest sister, every one flies from thee, no one loves thee ; every one fears thee, no one speaks of thee. Thy very name alarms both the great and the humble, the young and the old. . . . Like my Seraphic

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Father, I venture to · cali thee my dearest sister, because i.n real-ity thou art not death but life eternai, a sweet sleep for those

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who believe and \Vho long for divine light. Only through th.ee, Sister Death, c an w e rea eh Go d."

N o translation c an render th<t singular charm of thi.s letter t o Death in . the soft I talian tongue.

Like St. Francis also, our hero considered music as a means '

of drawing souls to God ; he had never .learnt it as a sciençe, but h e was evidently a horn musician. Among his . favorite disciples was a young man named Parisi, the son of G:en~aro

Parisi, a well-known . composer. Both father and son belonged .

to the Third Order of St. Francis and were warn1ly attached to Fra Lodovico. When, according to his expression, the latter .heard music in his soul, he used to sing, following only his in-

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spiration, while young Parisi either tried to catch the tune on the piano or else wrote down a few notes on paper. When this was clone, the artist repeated the melody which he hag

. thus gathered from the lips of the good monk and written dqw_~

according t o the canons of art. Sometimes Fra Loclovico . w~s satisfied ; a t other ti m es h e \vould exclaim : " N o, no, I di d . not mean that ! " and he began to sing again, until. Parisi suc-ceeded in rendering his i m pressi o n correctly. Thus guide~ an d inspired by his friend, w ho yet · possessed . neither the knowledge nor the culture of an artist, Parisi composed a

. number of oratorios and hymns which were successfully exe-cuted a t Naples, generally for the benefit · of o ne or other of Fra Lodovico's charitable institutions.

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In spite of the strain of poetry that lent so great a chann to his character, our hero was thoroughly practical in his unqer­takings ; the greater part of his life was spent, not indeed it;1 poetica! or mystical contemplations, but in a hand-to-hand struggle with human misery. He was essentially matter-of-fact i.n his dealings \Vith the poor: "If you exhort a sick man lying . on a bed of straw to go to confession, he will be too much

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absorbed by his sufferings to listen to you ; lay ~im ~n a good bed, with clean sheets, change_ his linen, g~ve hitn a cup of broth, and he will revive. Then you may speak to him of God, of J esus Christ; he will go to confession and bless God."

Another characteristic trait of Fra Lodovico was his blind VOL. LXII.-1 1 .

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trust in Providence. Over and over again be was asked, wben h e started a new work: "Where is . the money t o çome from?" l-Iis reply was always tbe same : " Providence will give . it to l1s." Sometimes Providence carne to his assistance in a .truly marvellous manner. Once h e was travelling o n foot from . the town of -Maddaloni to Naples; be had eaten notbing for thirty­foti'r bours and at last, from sheer exhaustion, h.e sank down on the road-side. N o o ne was in sigbt ; suddenly be perceived close a t band a large loaf of ·br e ad an d a tempting cbeese, of the . kind cali ed in the country . "prova tura." H e partook of both, blessing God for bis fatherly care. He often related this

. incident, not indeed as a miracle but as an example of God's

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tender care for his children. Another ti me, in 1873, i t happened that tbe institutions founded a t N api es by Fra Lodovico ~ere,

. owing to · an imprudent act on the part ·of one of the brothers, about t o be closed by the I talian government. In the midst of bis distress he remembered that' ten years· before, much to his surprise, King Victor Emmanuel had made . him a knigbt of the

• Order of St. Michael and St. · Lazarus. A bright idea struck bim: be hunted up the document that had been sent to him on tbat occasiori, collected ali the letters that be had received at different times from governmen·t officials acknowledging bis services, and, baving made a packet of the whole, he went to pay a round of visits to different members of tbe government. To each one be exhibited his papers. H You see," be said~ " I am not an enemy of the government, but only a friend of the poor " ; and ali along. the streets he ke.pt repeating to bimself : "Good Providence, ~ will not go home unti! I bave got ov~r this difficulty and saved my poor." Providence dild not abandon him ; tbe Duke of San · Donato, w horn he went to see, warmly pleaded bis cause and finally gained it. Our hero's loving con­fidence in Go d was frequently put t o the test,. for, .like ali men wbo attempt and execute great things, he was frequently ·attacked and criticised with much acrimony and violence. Tbe I talian government, me n of the world, e.ven priests an d religious, occa.sionally accused him of imprudence, exaggeration, or undue enthusiasm. H e bore these· attacks with touching . meekness ; in 1874 some religious of bis order sent a report against him to the father-general, wbo showed tbe paper to Fra Lodovico and r~quested bim to refute it ; his reply breathes a spirit of

. . bumility tbat must bave gone straight to tbe heart of St. Francis. "I do not tbink," be writes, "that these accusatjons proceed from malice, but rather from ignorance of the real state

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of the case. I love my dear brethren more than ev.er." Re •

used often to say that "without sufferings nothing is safe/' • •

that ". suffering is the seal that God sets upon the works he considers bis own." :

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In spite, however, of the attacks to which he was expose~

occasionally, Fra Lodovico enjoyed, on the whole, an extraor­dinary influence in Naples and even in Italy. Among .men of every condition and charact.er, with his simplicity, his fo~getf~l­ness of self, bis tender love for bis fellow-men, , he passed

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through politica! and social catastrophes beloved and respected by ali. ·

When Ferdinand II. lay dangerously ili at Bari, the queen .

and her cbildren were anxious to remove bim to .Caserta, wbere the situation and arrangt;ments of the palace gave him a better chance of recovery. The king, however, obstinately refused to let himself be removed, and the queen, in despair, had recourse to Fra Lodovico. H e carne 'to see Ferdinand, and after . speak­ing to him with his usual simplicity and charity, he said : "Till

• now, sire, you ha ve acted like a king; now you must become a little child and obey St. Francis. I am only a poor brother of

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St. Francis; but I declare . to you, in his name, that you mu~t

remove to Caserta and take better care of your health." "Very well," replied the sovereign, "I will obey the son of St. Francis."

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And the next day he left for Caserta. Fra Lodovico had a deep affection for. Ferdinand II. and

fqr his son, King Francis; both had been the generous benefac-. . . tors of his first foundations, an d the revolution. of I 86o, t ha t drove the young king into exile, cut him to the heart. His first impulse was t o fly f.rom N aple·s, t o abandon his different works and bury himself in some distant convent of his order. Before acting upon this impression he consulted Pope Pius IX. '' Son of St. Francis,'' replied the pope, " return t o N ap'les, throw your­self into the fight ; make use of your enemies in order to do

. good, and you will please God."

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He obeyed and continued to serve God and the poor, shut-ting his eyes resolutely to ali politica! intrigues. . When the in­terests of God required it, he knocked at the palace door as in old times. "I am come to see Ki11g Victor Emmanuel," he used. to say to the astonisbed porter ; " will you please tell him that Fra Lodovico would be glad to speak to bim?" H e was seldom refused an audie·nce, and he generally obtained what he carne to ask for.

The Archbishop of Naples, C~rdinal Riario Sforza, was our

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hero's warm friend. The two were very different; the one of •

noble hirth, refined, aristocratic, and dignified in manners and 3:ppearance ; the ether, a son of the people, uncultivated and illiterate ; but they possessed in an equal degree that which bridges over ali social differences an ardent love of God and of the poor.

The cardinal died in 1877, to Fra Lodovico's intense grief. "O J esus! w ha t hast thou don e?" h e writes; ''w ho can ever replace him? . . . My faith tells ~e that he was a saint an d that thou didst desire, O J esus ! to reward his virtues."

Our hero's best friends were the poor, the sick, the weak and little ones of this world ; but if chance circumstances brought · him into contact with illustrious personages he was just as simple, cordial, and cheerful as among his negro boys.

During his mission to Africa he found himself on one occa­sion stranded on the banks of the Nile, looking out for. a boat to take him bàck to Cairo. A magni"ficent steamer, belonging to Prince Anthony Hohenzollern, happened to pass by, and the prince, hearing of the good friar's embarrassment, offered to take him on board. The offer was gratefully accepted, and Fra Lo-

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dovico was welcomed with the utmost deference by his noble .

host. He took the honors paid to him with bis usual simplicity:; alluding to this incident he writes: " If we are told to accept humiliations, why should we not ais·o accept honors when they come in our way? Be lieve me, when the soul · is closely u.nited to God, both are good ; without God e.verything does us harm,

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with Go d everything may do us go od." This was the s.ecret of his holiness; he had attained to such

a degree of union with God that the things of this world seemed . .

powerless to trouble the peace and purity of bis soul. The present Pope, Leo XIII., treated our hero with constant

kindness; he often received him in his privaté study, conversed with him as with a familiar friend, and, speaking of him to Cardinal .Alimonda, he once exclaimed, with a ring of tenderness in his voice: ".0 Fra Lodovico! he is indeed my friend."

The fact that . among his friends w ere me n of every ran k and opinion, princes, peasants, priests, laymen, religious, arid free-thinkers, poets and politicians, magistrates and artists, proves his extraordinary power of sympathy. Cantù, the celebrateci critìc, gloried in his friendship ; Augusto C::onti, another writer, says that "he was another St. Francis ; . . . which of the great personages of our day;'' h e adds, " is really greater ·t han the poor brother of Casoria?" . Count Campello, brother-in-law

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to Cardinal Bonaparte, often observed: ·" H e is the ho,liest man .

I ever knew." " H e took the world as it is," says another, "only trying to make it as good as possible." He was never gloomy or despondent in his way of judging men, and ne~er violent, bitter, or querulous. He appeared as much to bis advantage among tbe rich as among the poor, in an assembly of religious, in a group of politicians, or in a consistory of cardinals ; always simple, kind, and gentle.

To tbis sunny temper, wbich made him inclined to look. up­on the world with indulge~t eyes, Fra Lodovico united a love of suffering, which is in itself alone a mark of holiness. A.Iways ready to relieve tbe miseries of others, be bore his own with joy

. and gratitude. For many montbs before bis death he suffered from a painful internai malady. He knew that the disease was mortai, but as long as human strength could hold out he went about his work in his -old, cbeerful way. In the spring of 1885 he was asked · to visi t an English lady, Mrs. Montgomery, w ho lay dangerously :ili. "Y ou w ili be cured," h e sai d t o her, " but

. . I am going aw~y; my mission is accomplished." On the 2d of March of tbe same year he visited tbe different institutions he had founded in Naples; he spoke kindly as usual to tbe nuns, t be Bigi, tbe orphans, . t o 'vb o~ h e · was a fatber ; only once h e was heard to murmur '' I sball never come back· bere.."

About the same time be wrote to King Humbert as simply as he had formerly knocked at the palace door to visit King Victor Emmanuel. "Sire," he said; ."a poor son of St. Francis begs your Majesty to . set Pope Leo XIII. free ; . . . show yourself tbe wortby heir of so many holy persons. . . . Leave Rome to tbe pope. . . ."

At last the end carne, and, like a laborer wbo has faithfully . finisb~d his task, Fra Lodovico lay down to die. He bore his excruciating sufferings without a murmur. "J esus must be loved on the cross," he often repeated ; "if he is not loved on tbe cross, be is not really loved." " I am on the cross," be added, "' and both my soul and my body are well."

On . Palm S_unday, March 29, 1885, he received Holy Com­munion, and divided between the Bigi · pr:esent a ·palm-branch . which h e bel d in his han d. The next day, ·a t an early hour, h e

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again received the Blessed Eucharist and blessed the' disciples w bo w ere kneeling around bis bed. Tben, w:ith a _gesture . fami­liar to bim- in life, he tbrew back bis bead and looked stralgbt

. upwards towards beaven ; gently bis head dropped for\vard and his spiri t passed away. I t was seven in tbe morning, an d the

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r66 A MODERN S·T. FRANCIS. [N ov . .

radiant su n of an I talian spring morning flooded the p o or c eU with its golden light, ·a sign an d symbol of the heavenly glory into which the pure spirit had winged its flight .

. Fra Lodovico's body was laid out in the chapel · of the h os-

pitai of Pausilippo, w h ere h e di ed ; the inhabitants of Naples carne in thousands to take leave of their best friend and, with the demonstrative devotion of their race, they cut off pieces o.f his ha bit · as relics. As h e lay . there so calm . an d stili, with his poor tunic aH 'torn and tattered, he reminde·d those present of the figure of Poverty, painted by .Giotto, in the Basilica of

. Assisi. ·

O n the 3 I st of March, I 88 5, h e was carri ed t o the cemetery of Naples amidst an extraordinary concourse of people. The Bigi bore the coffin; they were surrounded by those for 'vhom the dead friar h~d spent his life the negroes, the orphans, the pupils of the noble college, the nuns, and the poor. Then carne the · deputi es, magistrates, an d · politica! characters o~ the city, many of them openly irreligious, but all united in a commori bond oJ reverence for him whose loving heart had conquered animosities and prejudice .

The windows and balconi.es were lined wjth spectators ; many tears · were shed. " Our · friend has gone· to heaven," sobbed a wor~man, "but he will surely continue to help us, he loved us so much ! " . t

Two years. later the . Bigi obtained leave to take up their founder's body, and to bury it in the chapel of the hospital at ·

' Pausilippo, where ·it now rests. Documents are being collected wherein · the many graces attributed to Fra Lodovic<?'s~ inter­cession are carefully recorded, and it is . hoped that they may serve at . some future titne to bring about the canonization of him whom popular devotion has already surnamed the mode·rn St; Francis .

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CONTESSA DI COURSON

A modern St. Francis (1895)

Edizione Digitale a cura di Giuseppe Pesce

realizzata nell} ambito del Piano di Comunicazione «Casoria per San Ludovico»

CASORIA (NA)

Febbraio 2015