THE same rigour reveals itself
in a more recent apparition, where a Religious who died after an exemplary life
makes known her sufferings in a manner calculated to inspire all souls with
terror. The event took place on November 16, 1859, at Foligno, near Assisi, in
Italy. It made a great noise in the country, and besides the visible mark which
was seen, an inquiry made in due form by competent authority establishes it as
an incontestable fact.
There was at the convent of
Franciscan Tertiaries in Foligno, a sister named Teresa Gesta, who had been for
many years mistress of novices, and who at the same time had charge of the sacristy
of the community. She was born at Bastia, in Corsica, in 1797, and entered the
monastery in the year 1826.
Sister Teresa was a model of
fervour and charity. We need not be astonished, said her director, if God
glorifies her by some prodigy after her death. She died suddenly, November 4,
1859, of a stroke of apoplexy. Twelve days later, on November 16, a sister
named Anna Felicia, who succeeded her in office, went to the sacristy and was
about to enter, when she heard moans which appeared to come from the interior
of the room. Somewhat afraid, she hastened to open the door; there was no one.
Again she heard moans, and so distinctly that, notwithstanding her ordinary
courage, she felt herself over powered by fear.
“Jesus ! Mary ! “she cried, “
what can that be ?
She had not finished speaking
when she heard a plaintive voice, accompanied with a painful sigh, Oh ! my God,
how I suffer ! Oh I Dio, die peno tanto ! “The sister, stupefied, immediately
recognised the voice of poor Sister Teresa. Then the room was filled with a
thick smoke, and the spirit of Sister Teresa appeared, moving towards the door,
and gliding along by the wall. Having reached the door, she cried aloud,“
Behold a proof of the mercy of God” Saying these words, she struck the upper panel
of the door, and there left the print of her right hand, burnt in the wood as
with a red-hot iron. She then disappeared.
Sister Anna Felicia was left
half dead with fright. She burst forth into loud cries for help. One of her companions
ran, then a second, and finally the whole community. They pressed around her,
astonished to find a strong odour of burnt wood. Sister Anna Felicia told what had
occurred, and showed them the terrible impression on the door. They instantly
recognised the hand of Sister Teresa, which had been remarkably small.
Terrified, they took to flight and ran to the choir, where they passed the night
in prayer and penance for the departed, and the following morning all received
Holy Communion for the repose of her soul. The news spread outside the convent walls,
and many communities in the city united their prayers with those of the Franciscans.
On the third day, November 18, Sister Anna Felicia, on going in the evening to
her cell, heard herself called by her name, and recognised perfectly the voice
of Sister Teresa. At the same instant a globe of brilliant light
appeared before her, illuminating her cell with the brightness of daylight. She
then heard Sister Teresa pronounce these words in a joyful and triumphant
voice: died on a Friday, the day of the
Passion, and behold, on a Friday, I enter into eternal glory ! Be strong to
bear the cross, be courageous to suffer, love poverty.
Then adding, affectionately, Adieu,
adieu, adieu! she became transfigured, and like a light, white, and dazzling cloud,
rose towards Heaven and disappeared.
During the investigation which
was held immediately, November 23, in the presence of a large number of
witnesses, the tomb of Sister Teresa was opened, and the impression upon the
door was found to correspond exactly with the hand of the deceased. “ The door,
with the burnt print of the hand,” adds Mgr. Segur, is preserved with great
veneration in the convent. The Mother Abbess, witness of the fact, was pleased
to show it to me herself.
Wishing to assure myself of
the perfect exactitude of these details related by Mgr. Segur, I wrote to the
Bishop of Foligno. He replied by giving me a circumstantial account, perfectly
according with the above, and accompanied by a facsimile of the miraculous
mark. This narrative explains the cause of the terrible expiation to which Sister
Teresa was subjected. After saying, “ Ah ! how much I suffer ! Oh ! Dio, che
peno tanto!” she added that it was for having, in the exercise of her office of
Sacristan, transgressed in some points the strict poverty prescribed by the
Rule.
Thus we see Divine Justice
punishes most severely the slightest faults. It may here be asked why the
apparition, when making the mysterious
mark on the door, called it a proof of the mercy of God. It is because, in
giving us a warning of this kind, God shows us a great mercy. He urges us, in
the most efficacious manner, to assist the poor suffering souls, and to be
vigilant in our own regard. Whilst speaking of this subject, we may relate a
similar instance which happened in Spain, and which caused great rumours in
that country. Ferdinand of Castile thus relates it in his History of Saint
Dominic.” l A Domini can Religious led a holy life in his convent at Zamora, a city
of the kingdom of Leon. He was united in the bonds of a pious friendship with a
Franciscan brother like himself, a man of great virtue. One day, when
conversing together on the subject of eternity, they mutually promised that, if
it pleased God, the first who died should appear to the other to give him some
salutary advice. The Friar Minor died first; and one day, whilst his friend,
the son of St. Dominic, was preparing the refectory, he appeared to him.
After saluting him with respect
and affection, he told him that he was among the elect, but that before he
could be admitted to the enjoyment of eternal happiness, there remained much to
be suffered for an infinity of small faults of which he had not sufficiently
repented during his life. Nothing on earth, he added, can give an idea of the torments
which I endure, and of which God permits me to give you a visible proof. Saying
these words, he placed his right hand upon the table of the refectory, and the
mark remained impressed upon the charred wood as though it had been applied
with a red-hot iron. Such was the lesson which the fervent deceased Franciscan
gave to his living friend. It was of profit not only to him, but to all those who
came to see the burnt mark, so profoundly significant ; for this table became
an object of piety which people came from all parts to look upon. “ It is still
to be seen at Zamora” says Father Rossignoli, at the time at which I write ; 3 to
protect it the spot has been covered with a sheet of copper" It was
preserved until the end of the last century. Since then it has been destroyed,
during the revolutions, like so many other religious memorials.
