THEME 4: Friend of Simplicity

13 Spiritual Themes
of
St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

THEME 4: Friend of Simplicity
By Fr. Antonio M.Gentili, CRSP

Father Soresina in his "Attestazioni" writes, "This Father was perfect in every virtue." He could say it, because of his personal experience especially about the virtue of simplicity.

But let us go in order. We are reminded that Anthony Mary Zaccaria was "simple" by the "Anonymous Angelic" in her Memoirs. She proves it first of all from his style of preaching: "He explained the Word of the Lord with great ardor, fervor, and wise simplicity." What Anthony Mary was doing was to transfer into his preaching the style and language of the Bible, as he himself reminded the Friends of his Cenacle in Cremona: "The Scripture ... uses a very simple language" (Sermon IV). Through his writings, from the Letters to the Sermons and the Constitutions, we can catch the major lines of his thought on simplicity.

With The Simple He Talks About God

Our Saint for sure became familiar with this virtue of simplicity through the assiduous read­ing of St. Paul. We must act "in simplicity of the heart" (Eph 6:5), a simplicity rooted in Christ or which, better yet in the Greek text, makes a person long for him (2 Cor 11 :3). The Apostle sees simplicity in action in a life of charity (Rm 12:8), and more specifically in the special collection taken on behalf of the Church of Jerusalem (2 Cor 8:2; 9: 11.13). Keep in mind that Anthony Mary quotes the Vulgate which uses the word "simplicity" instead of generosity). St. Paul affirms to have acted in "simplicity of the heart and sincerity of God" (always according to the Vulgate edition).

These are the foundations of Anthony Mary's teaching. He reminds the laity in Cremona that "God speaks to the simple" (Sermon XI), and he praises Fra Dona's simplicity, affirming that "it has always been heard" (Letter VI). On the contrary, "The Holy Spirit shuns the double-hearted" (Sermon II). "The principal aim," he outlines for those who are consecrated, is "the imitation of Christian Bounty and Simplicity" (Constitutions XIX) which he was inculcating in the novices, urging them "to reach (Christian) Simplicity" (Constitutions XII), avoiding any negative judgment and emptying the mind of any fabulous thinking.

This suggestion will be repeated often in the correspondence with his disciples. In the first "circular letter" addressed to the "Children of Paul the Apostle" he writes, "compete…in becoming simple" (Letter VI). But it is especially in the letter addressed to Father Soresina that the invitation to simplicity becomes more insistent. He should be "getting along in sincerity and simplicity with every­body," "use…the same simplicity" (Letter X). Anthony Mary wanted his followers to be "simple" subjects (Ibid.), just as they were described by the "Anonymous Angelic" who writes that they had to be "founded in holy simplicity" (Memoirs). Almost to emphasize this invitation, at the closing of the letter to Father Soresina, in the long list of greetings he adds an adjective to the name of many of his children, and he qualifies Corrado Bobbia as "simple" (Ibid, 53). We know little about him; he entered the Congregation on July 9, 1538 and died of sickness on January 30, 1543. Perhaps we can apply to him the judgment expressed by Anthony Mary about one of his followers, "he is good, simple" (bounty and simplicity mentioned before), "and of upright heart, and fearful of God" (Letter I).

Of course the Zaccarian writings could not miss the classic Gospel text, which is quoted with the usual spiritual addition, "Simple like doves, and as prudent and cautious as serpents” (Mt 10:6; Constitutions XII). This leads to the commitment of Anthony Mary to his friends in Cremona, "I will prepare my heart for God in full truth, simplicity and sincerity. In his grace may God live forever in my heart, and make it his temple" (Sermon II).

Simple Eye and Evil Eye

The Gospel praises the simple eye (Mt 6:22; Lk 11:34), which is God's eye (Jn 1:5: "who gives generously" in our translation), whose "sun rises on the bad and the good, he rains on the just and the unjust" (Mt 5:45). Opposite to the simple eye of God there is the "evil eye" of man (Mt 20: 15), which is one of the twelve poisons which, Mark says (Mk 7: 22), render the heart impure. Therefore, the eyes of the heart can be "enlightened" (Eph 1: 18) or cloudy. In this case we have an absolute need for a spiritual medicine to "recuperate the sight" (Acts 3: 18).

Once back to simplicity, man appears transparent, receptive, condescending, disarmed, and vulnerable, since he does not stay on the defensive, but he is perfectly in tune. This does not prevent him from being unpredictable and paradoxical, just like Anthony Mary. Two examples are enough: When the novices gained little fruit from the "spiritual exercises" prescribed by their Mistress, he ordered them to spit her in the face! A disturbing gesture which encountered their reluctance; but actually what else had they done if not "spit on her face?"

Monsignor Cacciaguerra, a merchant from Siena who had converted to Christian life, and a disciple of St. Philip Neri (he moved to Rome in 1550, where he died sixteen years later), in his autobiography says to have lived in the Community of Anthony M. Zaccaria, who was called the "Major" (Father Morigia was the Superior). He had come out saying the expression, "I wish I could inflict a couple of wounds to his heart, to see what is inside." From then on almost all, including the novices, would provoke him, to say the least. They would pull his beard, because too refined; rub his cassock, because too luxurious; make fun of his politeness and pride ("he sucks the spirits" the Major told him, meaning to be filled with self-gratification); catch the red of shame on his face; and to conclude, “You are still rotten!” Anthony M. Zaccaria ended the trial saying, "We have taken some liberty with you!" “Truly terrible men,” Cacciaguerra concludes, "those reverend, in mortify­ing the persons coming under their hands" (O Premoli, Storia dei Barnabiti nel '500, p. 457-77).

The Saints are implacable, but we must judge them by their fruits, beginning with the "sim­plicity of the heart." What was the aim of their austere pedagogy if not to destroy any double face, incoherence, presumption, and lack of authenticity? What should be a natural virtue, almost the original sign of our being, it turns out to be the object of an arduous conquest, the end of a long journey. Man is wounded and full of self defenses, and only the desire to "go from strength to strength" (Sermon III), to "advance from virtue to virtue" (Sermon VII), will bring us back to the fullness and perfection of our being.

____________NOTES:

(original text in Ecco dei Barnabiti, 1989:4)

All the 13 Spiritual Themes of St Anthony M . Zaccaria were translated from Italian by Fr. Frank Papa, CRSP and edited by Ms. Fran Stahlecker.

THEME 2: Virginity and Martyrdom

13 Spiritual Themes

of

St. Anthomy Mary Zaccaria

THEME 2: Virginity and Martyrdom
By Fr. Antonio M.Gentili, CRSP

The great turns in life, although they seem to be sudden, usually are the fruit of a long gestation. Where, then, do we find the origin of that "dedicated himself to spiritual life," which marked the return to Cremona of the young Anthony M. Zaccaria, newly-graduated in Medicine? It involved not only a renewed fervor toward perfection in his own personal life, but also a more direct consecration to the cause of the salvation of souls. And so we see side-by-side the development of his formation to the priesthood, and the germination of the Cenac1e of reform where, at first as a layman among lay people, then as a priest, Anthony M. Zaccaria lavished the treasures of his intuitions.
Since the example of the Saints is enriched by the successive readings which are born inside
the Christian community, we are reminded of a page of the Vatican Council II, where we read:

The Church reminds to the mind of all that culture must be made to bear on the integral perfection of the human person, and on the good of the community and the whole of society. Therefore, the human spirit must be cultivated in such a way that there results a growth in its ability to wander, to understand, to contemplate, to make personal judgment, and to develop a religious, moral, and social sense (GS, 59).

For Anthony Mary culture had already opened itself to the great ideals of the spirit during the years he had spent studying for his humanistic and scientific formation. At the University of Padua, the young Zaccaria, between the age of 18 and 22, encountered the philosophical thought derived from the texts of Aristotle and the various mediations of old and recent commentaries. From one of these commentaries he took a series of definitions which he organized alphabetically in a note book, which was later used to write his Sermons. The only definition which is not found in the source, and so completely composed by Anthony Mary, and obviously out of place in an inventory of philosophical affirmations reads, "Chastity helps a lot in the acquisition of science. See the Letter E, under the voice Exercise, etc." In the reference the young student notes, going back to the source and not to his own thought: "Exercise offers to man's nature a preparation he did not have before. In an analogous way, it works even the moral virtue, especially chastity."

We could make many observations. First of all the young Zaccaria, about 20, confronts one of the crucial aspects of human maturation. He has an intuition for the strict ties between corporeity and spirituality. He overcomes the contrast between the exuberance of the instinct and the discipline of life, while he discovers a harmonious rapport with reciprocal fecundity. He presents himself at the threshold of adulthood in a unified and integral way, without any decompensation. Especially - and here is where lies the power of his "discovery," yes, not as an absolute, but a secure thing for himself - he has the intuition that chastity is not repression, as it could seem at first sight, and in spite of its etymology (chastity from "chastise"), but a drive, a "capacity," as Pope John Paul II would say, "If chastity at first appears as the capacity to resist against the concupiscence of the flesh, later gradually it reveals itself as a singular capacity to perceive, to love, and to effect those meanings of the spousal language of the body, which stay totally unknown to the same concupiscence ... " (Audience of October 20, 1984). Spousal language of the body manifested especially in the conjugal fecundity which binds it to the spirit: chastity helps science, as St. Thomas himself loves to remind us following Aristotle (cf. Summa Theologiae 2,2,15,3).
Finally, Anthony M. Zaccaria shows to have well-understood the importance of exercise and spiritual exercise, not abstract but corporeal, as we can deduce from his future writings. Man is a bundle of boisterous energies; only with discipline they turn to benefit his integral development. Otherwise, they run him over and rape him. But let us listen to our Saint.

Writing to his first disciples who, the year before in July 1537, had opened a mission in Vicenza, he explains, "As you overcome ignorance going to school, and just as the iron becomes shining with use, so it is with the practice of Christian virtues." And he gives an example; In the beginning Paul was not what he was later. The same can be said for the others" (Letter VI) and about the same for Zaccaria! About ten years before he had said to his Cenacle in Cremona, that man to go to God needed to purify himself, had to take a laxative (he added as a good doctor!) against all the passions, which, he pin points, "are mostly rooted in the body. Hence, they require bodily remedies, bodily guidance and incentives" (Sermon IV). The discipline of sensuality, take in the wildest meaning of the term, as he explains in his letters to the Omodeis, serves more "to increase and add beauty to Chastity" (Letter XI), where beauty and increase are a life program formulated with extremely positive terms, and proposed indifferently to people married or consecrated with vows.

All our very first historians testify to the fact that this was Anthony Mary's perception about the value of virginity, as a good for any state in life, as "a necessity of the souls," as a preamble to everlasting "fecundity" (expressions which today we find in our contemporary lay writers). Father Soresina describes him as "very much averse to any sensuality," "an incredible lover of purity (Attestazioni). On her part the "Anonymous Angelic" in her scented Memoirs exalts "the unique: purity and innocence" of Zaccaria, whom she defines as "an angel on earth," "lover of purity" and gifted with "purity and innocence of mind and body," so that he flew into heaven as "a pure dove." Didn't he write in the Constitutions that a true religious "in so far as it is up to him - desires with joy the true integrity of the body and soul" (Letter III) a text where every word has its specific meaning with a particular efficacy?

At this point allow me to re-read it keeping an eye on the Vatican Council II, which exalts in the Church, linking them together the two "gifts:" "exceptional gift" of martyrdom and the "special gift of virginity" (Lumen Gentium, 42).
"Virginity and freedom," we read in our contemporary writers; and, as we said, Virginity is love without compensation. Consequently we can capture the link uniting this duplex witness in the life of Anthony Mary. We like to consider him as a virgin and as a martyr, not in the sense of a bloody gift of his life, but for sure in the sense of an existence offered as a total sacrifice. He himself is very explicit about it, "Look how I long for and desire your perfection, look at my heart, which is wide open for you. I am ready to shed my blood for you, so long as you do this" (Letter XI).

Virginity and martyrdom recall each other and fecundate each other, and I think it is the truest and most fascinating message that Anthony Mary gives today to all those who invoke him as Father.

______
NOTES:
(original text in Ecco dei Barnabiti, 1989:2)
All the 13 Spiritual Themes of St Anthony M . Zaccaria were translated from Italian by Fr. Frank Papa, CRSP and edited by Ms. Fran Stahlecker.

THEME 3: A Holy Young Man - A Saint with a Young Spirit

13 Spiritual Themes

of

St. Anthomy Mary Zaccaria

THEME 3:

A Holy Young Man - A Saint with a Young Spirit
By Fr. Antonio M.Gentili, CRSP

Although most of the portraits of St. Anthony M. Zaccaria represent him as a man of mature age and merits, it has always been a big surprise to discover that he had run his crazy race ("let us rush like mad men" was his motto and program) in the short span of thirty-seven years. If he is not the youngest among all the Founders, men and women, for sure he is one of those 04the top of such a list.

But if the birth certificate tells us that he was a holy young man, we can also say that he was a saint with a special direct tie, almost a conspiracy, with youth. Let us try to prove the point.

First of all it is immediately evident that Anthony Mary lived his life with the extraordinary intensity characterizing a young person. While paganism, always ready to surface since it is a dimen­sion of human life, sees always in youth the age par excellence for pleasure, pursuit and satisfied in refusing any ethical constriction or norm, here is this young man from Cremona, reserved, a little introverted and pious, who makes of his youth the crucible for the great choices of his life. If it is true that the adolescent is the father of the man/woman, in the years between 17 and 21 Anthony Mary makes the choices which will inspire the whole of his life. They seem to zero in on the University years which determined his past, present, and future. Before going to Padua he detaches himself from all material possession and gives them to his mother. During his University years he matures and tries his personal choices for virginity, and, once back home, with determination he embraces the road of obedience. As we can see, Anthony M. Zaccaria at a very young age professes in his heart those three vows which will become the spirit of his life and of his apostolate. We are already familiar with his choices, but it is worthwhile to examine them again.

The donation of his goods to his mother is so radical that it seems incredible. It could not be revoked for any reason whatsoever, even if Antonietta Pescaroli should sin of ingratitude toward her son, and even if he should have children to care for. We have said donation of goods, but we should say of "all" goods because this totality, amazing in a young man about to leave home to be on his own, puts the spotlight on the evangelical consistency inspiring him, and allows us to have a first glimpse of a project, maybe a dream, which begins to burn in his heart.

On the same line we find the virginal orientation that Anthony Mary gives to his life, during the roaring years of his youth, when the "spousal language of the body" begins to express itself in the fullness of its power and beauty, but at the same time it is in danger of experiencing the falsifications due to concupiscence and laxity against which the Word of God often warns us. Anthony Mary aims on high and lives chastity not as an inhibition of his potentials, but as a condition for their authentic development. Remember his words, "Chastity is of great help to the acquisition of science." When he exhorts his disciples "to joyfully long for true integrity of body and soul," he communicates to them an experience already tested through the years of his own youth What is amazing is his posi­tive vision of chastity, which he wants to see grow and grow (indeed he speaks of "beauty" and "growth") even between spouses. Almost as if saying that chastity constitutes the qualifying aspect of that common denominator to which both religious and laity are called.

About obedience, let us recall the words left to us in an ancient historical document by one of the Angelic Sisters. Back to Cremona, "he dedicated himself to spiritual life, under the guidance of a Dominican Father, called Fra Marcello," and "by the will" of his successor, Fra Battista da Crema, "he became a priest." It is safe to say that spiritual life demands total docility toward our guide, whose function is indispensable for the discernment of one's vocation.

Having lived his youth with such intensity, Anthony Mary was enriched with singular charm and attraction upon the young people. The old chronicles remind us the at the companions of Anthony Mary "were all young." But let us take a closer look at the relationship between him and some of them. Father Gabuzio, excellent historian of our Barnabite origins, and very scrupulous in recreating the events about the Holy Founder and his first disciples, has left us four "sketches" about four young men. We will report them in the essential description left to us by the author.

It is astonishing how, as Anthony Mary made the sign of the cross on the forehead of Tito degli Alessi, this young man from Vicenza, who, very casually, had approached him, was struck by something like a burst of fire. This will mark the rest of his life, and he will be one of the Bamabites who, through the friendship and intercession of St. Philip Neri, will settle in Rome.

In Guastalla, close to his death by now, Anthony Mary saw a very healthy young man by the shore of the Po River. He had an intuition of his destiny, and so he kindly exhorted him to think about his soul and to be reconciled with God's grace, since he could be close to his death. The young man, touched by his words, right away went to confession, and not much later unexpectedly he left this world.

The third case is about a novice who made his confession to Anthony M. Zaccaria, leaving out a secret sin. Before absolution Anthony Mary admonished the penitent who was struggling with the idea to manifest or not the other aspect of his life, and he revealed to him the omitted sin. Then full of admiration and shame, the novice completed his confession.

The last case is about the petition by a young man to Anthony Mary to free his house from a baleful spirit, which, day and night, was inflicting harms and injuries to his relatives, making vain any remedy. After intense prayer, sure of God's help, right there and then, he performed an exorcism: "Go," he told the young man, "and on my behalf tell that demon to leave that house in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and not to molest it any more." The young man did as instructed, and with great success.

These four events are very characteristic and almost constitute the figure, the design of grace in which Anthony Mary Zaccaria moves.

First of all the choice of the way of life, mediated by a daring gesture. A blessing on the forehead makes the youngster think, and then gives him, according to Father Gabuzio's expression, "quasi igneam vim," like a vigorous flame. The horizon of human existence is marked by death. But nothing is further away from the expectations of a young man. Still the wisdom of life crosses through the consciousness of one's sunset.

Thirdly, the urgency of leading someone to the truth of his personal history, accepting its bright and its shadowy moments; a very difficult step this last one for a young man, by his very nature a perfectionist and so proud.

Finally to be aware how human life is a constant fight against the power of evil, and the consciousness of the consequent dangers The spokesman of this consciousness is the young man who bends his sensitivity to the perception of the dramas of the human heart, and begs help from the power of grace.

All of us during our youth register, or have registered similar moments of trials and of truth, and now we know that we can rely on the protection of a Saint twice young, because of his birth certificate, and because of his spirit

NOTES: (original text in Ecco dei Barnabiti, 1989:3) All the 13 Spiritual Themes of St Anthony M . Zaccaria were translated from Italian by Fr. Frank Papa, CRSP and edited by Ms. Fran Stahlecker.

THEME 1: Man given Back to Himself

13 Spiritual Themes
of
St. Anthomy Mary Zaccaria

.

THEME 1: Man Given Back To Himself

By Fr. Antonio M.Gentili, CRSP

Many today talk about a "mechanism of interiorization" (A. Borrely), which affirms that "a monk is hidden in the heart of each person" (R. Barile). We are reminded that the first of "the great specialized journeys" is constituted by the "Monastic Life," which, therefore, is presented as the "formative journey" by which all Christians should be inspired in disciplining their spiritual life (Card. M. Martini).

If holiness is also measured by the up-to-date teachings and examples of the one who has incarnated it, we have to say that Anthony Mary Zaccaria would be speaking the same language to us.

It has been said that the future belongs to people marked by the experience of the divine.
This is exactly what Anthony Mary inculcates upon his disciples, be they lay, religious, or cleric living under the discipline of a rule.

To the laity of his Cenacle in Cremona, a center of renewal he had founded, the very young Zaccaria was pointing out the old program of life: "Now if man is upset or full of noise from the outside, how is he going to be in the house? Remember that Christ said, 'When you pray, go to your private room - that is, your heart — and shut the door, that is, your senses — and then pray to your Father in secret, and He will reward you'" (Sr II, 88).

Come back to the Heart

Man is urged to "come back to the heart," where the true I is hidden, and is called to be God's temple: "I will prepare my heart for God in all truth, in all simplicity, and in all sincerity. May he dwell in my heart forever through His grace and make it His temple" (Sr, II, 119). Therefore, the whole spiritual life will consist in disciplining our exterior senses, and in developing "your interior efforts," as Anthony Mary writes to his disciples working in the Vicenza mission (Lt VI, 36).

Once back to his own very self, the spiritual man is capable to see "interiorly" again (Lt XI, 46) which the estrangement from the practice of contemplation has almost totally erased from our forehead: "The eyes of mind and of spirit ... in most men these eyes are blind, and in all men they are rather hesitant and disaccustomed to see" (Sr IV, 110).

To go back to the original familiarity with God, "let us often elevate our mind to God," which Zaccaria recommends to the layman Carlo Magni (Lt III, 24), and to the Omodeis (Lt XI, 55). He reminds these last ones that it is not enough "to pray for one or two hours," but what is needed is to "often ... elevate (the) mind to Christ," with whom we have "to converse and chat interiorly" (Cs XII, 180), so as to reach a state of "continuity in prayer" (Lt III, 25), or, according to a saying taken from St. Gregory the Great’s "Pastoral Letter" (2, 1: PL 77, 27), to be "always recollected" (Cs XVIII, 198) in prayer.

Anthony M. Zaccaria is a great master of "interior Prayer" (Cs X, 168), which will shine in those who know how "to be recollected" (Cs XII, 18), who know how to frequently visit the secret dwellings of the heart, according to an expression used by Gregory the Great to describe the spiritu­ality of his holy patriarch Benedict of Norcia.

Stability of the Mind

But how does one reach such a demanding style of life? The condition is readily given: we have to reach "stability" of mind (Cs IX, 166), since "man by nature has a wandering mind" (Lt III, 24).
Anthony Mary had learned from Gregory the Great that the "instability of the mind" is caused by the "original transgression" and it "has become like a second nature" (Moralia 26,44, 79: PL 76,395). This is why the great Doctor compares the mind now to water, now to a mill, now to a reed. "I fit is channeled, it goes up, since it has a tendency toward where it came from; if it is left to itself it gets lost, because inevitably ends up to the bottom" (Regola Pastorale 3, 14: PL 77, 73). "Any mundane business is comparable to a grinding wheel which, accumulating many worries, makes the human mind whirl wind, and constantly produces in the depraved hearts the flour of unending thoughts" (Moralia 6, 16,25: PL 75,743). Also Zaccaria uses the same comparison when he preaches that "the mind is like a water-mill" which grinds good and bad thoughts according to what we put into it (Sr II, 88). And finally: "the reed represents the mobility of the mind" (Moralia 33, 3, 7: PL 76,673).

"Heaven and earth, Gregory the Great affirms, contend for the dominion of the mind" (Ibid. 10, 10, 17: PL 75,931). It follows that we must not give the demon the opportunity to stir up our mind into a state of alienation from God: "Keep away ... from distractions ..., knowing that the devil is used to overpower those who are distracted" (Cs VII, 163).

Now "the mind will reach its stability, if it polarizes itself on that one thought on which it wants to concentrate. The mind will reach stability only if it does not get swept away by the changing pressure of numberless stimulations" (Moralia 26, 44, 79: PL 76,395).

The Enchantment of Exteriority

This entails a constant interior work which would allow us to "reap the fruit of a pure mind" (Cs XII, 179). "The mind," Gregory the Great said, "has always to be emptied" (Moralia 31,27, 53: PL 76,603). Zaccaria echoes him as he recommends to the novices an absolute simplicity in their interior judgment, under the penalty that they would not "empty their mind of fantasies" (Cs XII, 179), or when he enjoins them "never to form during Prayer any fanciful images" (Ibid., 176), that is not to substitute contemplation with what is a pure excitement of the senses.

To reach the silence of the mind it requires arduous discipline. Gregory the Great affirms, "Our mind is in no way drawn to the purity of interior contemplation, if it does not quiet the uproar of earthly desires" (Moralia 5, 31, 55: PL 75,710). But how could this be possible for us who are "enraptured by the things which are visible and always present, and even necessary" to us? (Sr IV, 108). How can we overcome the "enchantment of the exterior," as Pope Paul VI says? He himself gives us the answer: "The fascinating image ... absorbs almost the whole of our interior life ... It fixes itself in our memory to move then in our mind; if it is constantly pursuited, sometimes with an obsession, than it will substitute the speculative thought, it will be crowded with vain fantasies, it will stimulate it to imitation, it will make it exterior, reducing it to the level of the sensible world. How can spiritual life, prayer, suspension to the First Principle, that is God, find room in a con­science crowed with habitual importation of images, often futile and harmful?"

_________

NOTES: (original text in Ecco dei Barnabiti, 1989:1)
All the 13 Spiritual Themes of St Anthony M . Zaccaria were translated from Italian by Fr. Frank Papa, CRSP and edited by Ms. Fran Stahlecker.

Chapter IX - HIS GLORIFICATION MAY 27, 1897

No sooner had the sad news spread through the city of the death of Anthony Mary, the mourning then became universal. Both clergy and laity, with one voice, extolled the sanctity of his life and his works of apostolic zeal. God wished to testify to his holiness by the following miracle. While the Fathers Ferrari and Soresina were preparing him for burial, they by accident left him a little uncovered. At once, he stretched out his hand and drew the covering over him. He did this more than once to show that he could not bear that, even in death his virginal modesty should be disregarded. The same miracle was renewed when, later on, the Superior General of the Congregation went to visit and venerate Anthony Mary’s sacred body.

The funeral was solemn and touching. The body was carried with great pomp to the Parish Church of St. Donato where it was exposed for two days. It would be impossible to give any estimate as to the number of people who flocked to pay their last tribute to the servant of God. Crowds continually came and went; some reverently kissing his head and hands, others touching him with their beads, handkerchiefs and other objects, and some even cutting off small pieces of his vestments to keep them as precious relics. From this arose the necessity of enclosing him quickly in a wooden coffin.

The Cardinal Bishop of the city came for the celebration of the funeral service with all his Chancellors; after these, came his spiritual sons with a large following of citizens to transport the remains to Milan.

This translation was, indeed, a triumphal procession. Priests and laity came out from the villages and castles where the body was to pass; and forming in procession, all went to meet it carrying crosses, bearing lighted candles and singing joyful litanies such as would be done to honor the relics of a saint. In these pious demonstrations, the people of Castiglione Lodigiano especially distinguished them- selves.

The sacred body was laid on an altar in the choir of the convent of the Angelics in Milan where it rested for 26 years remaining, entire and incorrupt. In 1566 an order came from the Holy See that no corpse should be kept on the altars. Anthony Mary was then buried in the crypt that served as a burial place also for the Angelics.

Anthony Mary immediately after his death was, by the unanimous voice of clergy and laity, honored on the altars under the title of Blessed and St. Charles Borromeo himself celebrated the holy sacrifice on the altar where his relics reposed. But in 1634, by a decree of Urban VIII forbidding any public honor to be paid to those who had not enjoyed it from time immemorial or by the approbation of the Holy See, the Barnabites took the pictures of their Founder from their altars, and every public honor that had been paid to him for 95 years then ceased.
However, the Lord did not cease to make the merits and virtues of St. Anthony Mary shine forth by favors and miracles granted to those who (as was allowed by the law of the church) continued to venerate him privately. Consequently, the regular process of Beatification was introduced. On February 2, 1849, Pius IX, even from his exile in Gaeta, solemnly proclaimed the "virtues of the Servant of God, Anthony Mary, practiced in a heroic degree," and he authorized them to proceed to the further acts for his Beatification. Leo XIII on January 3, 1890 then restoring the ancient devotion, which numerous and incontestable historic documents showed Anthony Mary to have had for 95 years, ordered that he should be honored on all altars under the title of Blessed.

The public devotion to their holy Founder being once more introduced, the Barnabites redoubled their efforts to recover his remains. Their zeal was rewarded; for, at last, they found them exactly where they had first been placed and guarded with so much love by the Angelics. They were found on May 8, 1891 in the crypt of St. Paul's, while overhead (in the church) the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for the Devotion of the Forty Hours.

The relics recovered, the Barnabites set about preparing them for a suitable crypt in their church of St. Barnabas in Milan, which they looked upon as the cradle of their Congregation. This crypt, not only from an architectural point of view, but for its exquisite ornamentation, is a perfect gem of art. It is in the style of the 15th Century and is divided into three aisles by beautiful little pillars of polished grey granite, and along the walls, other small pilasters corresponding with the pillars support the arches on which the ceiling rests. Over the altar is raised a small cupola closed in by plate glass with an opening on the choir of the church, thus permitting the devotions to be assisted.

The table of the altar is a single slab supported by small pillars and pilasters in antique style, all of beautiful variegated marble with bronze ornaments richly gilt. On the step which surmounts it, rests the massive gold frame which encloses the miraculous picture of the saint of which we shall speak later. The body of the saint is laid under the altar. Clothed in his black habit and his sacerdotal robes, his head rests on a magnificent cushion. In his right hand he holds a silver lily and his left supports the book of the Epistles of St Paul. When the front of the altar is uncovered for the veneration of the faithful, the body of the saint is seen perfectly. It is then that a marvelous light is thrown on it, a light so brilliant that it eclipses the light of the many lamps that burn around the altar.

The solemn inauguration took place on April 9, 1893, in the presence of great numbers of the clergy and prelates and a continuous stream of people of every age and rank. Numerous pilgrimages were also made to venerate the body of the saint. Among these, that from Crema was remarkable — at its close a priest having been instantaneously cured, and also that from Cremona, the saint's native city, which numbered as many as twenty thousand pilgrims.
In the meantime, the process of canonization was proceeding rapidly. The miracles presented were approved and, finally, the reigning Pontiff, Leo XIII, raised Blessed Anthony Mary to the supreme honor upon the Altars under the title of Saint on May 27, 1897, celebrating the feast with solemn pomp at the Vatican Basilica in Rome.

The crypt, having been described, let us now see what is still more important, how the devotions are carried out, with what fervor it is visited, and what heavenly favors God ever showers down on this spot for the glory of his servant Anthony and for the temporal as well as spiritual good of his faithful clients. Hardly had the crypt been opened and the altar consecrated in 1893 then, as we have already mentioned, there was a constant stream of people from many places going to a most celebrated sanctuary.

We have already spoken of the great pilgrimages of Crema, Cremona, and Lodi besides the great numbers who came on private pilgrimages. As this outburst of devotion, far from dying out, was daily on the increase, special services had to be held to satisfy the devotion of the faithful. Mass was daily celebrated at a fixed hour in the crypt in honor of the Saint, after which benediction with the relic of the Saint was given. Every Tuesday after the Mass, the favors obtained through his intercession were read from the pulpit and the new favors asked were then recommended to the prayers of those present. Then, benediction of the Blessed Sacrament was given, which was followed by the blessing with and veneration of the relic of the Saint. What was then established is still followed strictly; moreover, on account of the great numbers who attend these devotions, services are also held on Tuesday evening with special prayers to the Saint and benediction and veneration of the sacred relic. To form an idea of the great favors showered down by Divine Providence in these tempestuous times by the revival of devotion to Saint Anthony Mary, it is enough to count the votive offerings of those who, for favors received, thus publicly testify their gratitude, and the great number of lamps kept (at the expense of the faithful) constantly burning before the shrine.

To God alone is known the many graces that are asked in private from this His great servant. In the short space that elapsed between June and November 1893, over two hundred thanksgivings were made from the pulpit for every kind of favor, spiritual and temporal. Of these favors, although only a short sketch is kept, enough remains to touch us and fill us with admiration. Among those who have recourse to the Saint are persons of every age and condition, not only those of the humbler classes but also others of rank, clergy, laity, whole religious communities and entire countries. Favors are asked in every kind of sickness that surgical and medical art has ever dealt with and diseases that have been pronounced beyond the reach of human science. The poor, reduced to dire need, look to him as their supreme helper. Young people and students recommend themselves to him for the success of their examinations, or for help in the choice of a state of life, or that he may remove the obstacles that prevent them embracing the state already chosen. In short, all, old and young, rich and poor come to him with loving trust, laying before him their every want, anxiety, and care.

One reads most touching appeals from Christian teachers who recommend their young charges to the Saint that they may grow up pure and holy, fearing and loving God. Among the spiritual favors that are asked are some that go to one's very heart. Many a mother offers up tears and prayers for the conversion of a dissolute, irreligious son, lead astray by bad companions and now a disgrace to his name and a source of bitter sorrow to his family. Wives who ask graces for their profligate husbands who care for neither family nor religion. Poor things! It seems as if they have no moment of calm except the time spent in praying and recommending themselves to blessed Anthony. It would bring tears to one's eyes to read the words of a daughter who asked for prayers that her father return and be reconciled to her mother, or those of a wife who implores prayers for her husband.

This veneration, so pure, so fervent, that flows forth before this sacred Tomb reveals much to those who come there to pray. It teaches many important truths even to those who believe themselves to be experienced in and capable of educating their families and promoting the welfare of the people.

Chapter X - THE WONDER WORKER 1873 - 1876

During his lifetime, Anthony Mary is not known to have worked many miracles. However, the gift of working miracles which he did not have on earth, God granted him to a very high degree after his death. Very numerous are the miracles worked through his intercession. In olden times, clear testimony of this is given by many writers. Giuseppe Bresciani in his Crown of Cremonese Saints, speaking of Zaccaria, says expressly, "that after his death the Lord worked many miracles and favors." Agostino Barbosa, the celebrated jurist consultant, in his work on Ecclesiastical Rights (1628), writes of Zaccaria, " that as he was holy in life, so he was illustrious after death by the glory of his miracles." And the same is confirmed by other writers such as Angelica Gonzaga.

Of the miracles worked in the past, we shall mention only the one with interesting value connected with the miraculous picture that is preserved and placed for veneration over the altar where the body of the Saint lays.

Father Faustino Premoli, rector of the Barnabite College in Crema, on the evening of July 15, 1747, kneeling before a picture of Anthony Mary, prayed fervently that God would condescend to render the Saint illustrious by some new and striking miracle in order that the Barnabites might be enabled to appeal for the process of his beatification. The next day some devout persons were praying as usual before the picture when, behold, they saw it surrounded by a bright light. The Servant of God, letting the lily (which before was upright) fall down on his left arm, raised his right hand from his breast and blessed them as a priest does at the altar. While this happened, Father Premoli, who was facing the people, (for he was giving them the blessing with the relic of the Saint) seeing in them a certain awe and wonder, asked what had happened; but no one dared to speak. The apparition over which they exclaimed, "Oh! What a miracle, what a wonderful miracle we have seen!" Those who were present related what had occurred. A standing proof remained in the picture itself, for neither the left hand of the Saint nor the lily took their former position. This was verified not only by Father Premoli, but also by many persons who remembered how the picture had first been painted; among these was the painter Tommaso Picenardi who had taken some copies of it.

In the 19th century, we can say without question that the graces received through the intercession of the Saint can be counted by hundreds. Space, however, will only permit to give the three miracles that served for the canonization of St. Anthony Mary and a few other miraculous incidents that happened in later dates.

THE FIRST MIRACLE

The first took place at Castagnolo Minore near Bologna in 1876. Vincenzo Zanotti, a peasant, 20 years of age, because of a muscular sprain, developed varicose veins in his left leg. Ulcers soon formed and he continued in this state for 45 years. His sufferings became unbearable. Having lost all hope of regaining his health, Vincenzo Zanotti, on the advice of one of his friends, turned to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria. With all the fervor of a soul full of faith, he made a novena and then a triduum to the Saint. He applied the pannolino (a small piece of linen that had touched the bones of the Saint), which he had, to the part affected. God rewarded his faith, for at the end of the triduum he found the leg perfectly cured. He and all present including the doctor cried out, "A miracle!" Vincenzo, being completely restored to health, took up his usual work. Six years later, an investigation was made in Bologna on this truly miraculous cure. He deposed on oath, “I, from that day, have always been perfectly well."

THE SECOND MIRACLE

Much more striking is the following cure which took place in Cremona on May 21, 1873. Paola Aloni, 42 years of age, was suffering from an incurable organic spinal condition which had kept her bedridden for seven years. Her sufferings increased to such an extent that she got no rest neither night nor day. For four months, she had been unable to take any food except a little broth. On May 15, 1873, the Last Sacraments were administered to her. However, she continued to recommend herself to St. Anthony Mary, to whom she had for six months been making novena after novena, believing all the time that the saint would cure her. "I have never been as ill as I am now, " she said to her confessor, "and this shows the favor is about to be granted. You will see a great miracle.” As a matter of fact, the miracle was not delayed. On the morning of May 21, she felt an irresistible power urging her to rise from her bed. Fearing that she would not be able to stand on account of her great weakness, she asked to be touched with the relic of the Saint. In a moment she regained her strength and without help rose from her bed. Her malady had disappeared. She was perfectly cured! People came and went all day, wanting to witness for themselves the great miracle that had been worked.

THE THIRD MIRACLE

Francesco Aloni, 52 years of age, a brother of Paola Aloni, had suffered for three years from ulcers and sores in his leg caused by varicose veins. The pus that issued from these sores was frightful, and the sufferings of the poor man daily increased. In the summer of 1876, his state became very serious obliging him to stay in bed. After having been kept in two hospitals for several months, he was dismissed, his case having been pronounced chronic and incurable. The poor man left the hospital crawling rather than walking. Unable to get home, he dragged himself to his sister's house which was near. She, seeing him in such a sad state, said to him, as if inspired from on high, "Francesco, have you never recommended yourself to the Blessed Zaccaria?" To this he never answered but burst into tears. The sister too wept, but full of confidence, she touched his leg with the relic of Anthony Mary, saying, "Through the intercession of Blessed Zaccaria may God restore you!" For a while both remained silent. Then Paola added, "Francesco, promise me to make a novena to the Saint." The brother promised and left the house in better spirits. Francesco and Paola prayed fervently for the nine days. On the ninth day, October 23, 1876, the leg was straightened. What a moment that was! The leg was perfectly healed. He ran to his sister's house anxious to relate the miracle. "My Paola, he cried, I am cured. Tomorrow I will return to my work", and so he did. So complete was his cure that from that day he enjoyed perfect health.

Other Miraculous Signs of the Saint

A young Italian woman, Eliza Greco, was in great trouble, seeing no prospect of the obstacles to her marriage being removed. She was engaged to an officer who, on account of his financial circumstances and his health, found it utterly impossible to carry out his wishes. To make matters worse, there was no prospect of his being ordered to the African Colonies. He wanted to retire from the army, but this did not lessen the difficulties. There were also drawbacks, to his getting other appointments. Those to whom he applied seemed to think it strange that he should wish to change his profession. Meanwhile, the lady to whom he was engaged, being in the habit of attending parish church of the Barnabites, heard in a sermon of the many and wonderful favors obtained through the intercession of St. Anthony Mary. She made some special promises to the Saint and began a novena in his honor. Her faith was very soon rewarded for, contrary to all expectations, the officer obtained a splendid appointment that put an end to all their difficulties. On May 3, 1899, they hung a silver heart that might serve as a lasting token of their loving gratitude to their heavenly near the tomb St. Anthony Mary Benefactor.

December, 1893

A young girl named Adalgisa Comelli, working as director in the Istituto Girelli at Marone, on the Lago d'Iseo, was attacked by a disease beginning with a sore behind her right ear. This remained a deep and open wound till at last the bone became infected.
Every remedy was tried and several specialists were consulted, but nothing could be done. Year after year, things grew worse. Towards the end of October 1898, it was decided that an operation must be performed and a part of the skull removed. The poor girl worn out from pain, and frightened at the thought of the terrible operation, asked to have it postponed for nine days. On the advice of the Directress of the Institute, she turned with all her heart to St. Anthony Mary. Using no further remedies, but consecrating these nine days to the Saint, she begged his help recommending all of herself to him. She also received from the Directress a relic of the Saint to put under her pillow. What a joy to find, on the morning of the ninth day, that she had not only slept all night and no longer felt any pain, but that she was perfectly cured. The wound was healed, and there was no longer any trace or mark of the disease that had caused her such frightful sufferings for eight years. She at once had a Mass said in thanksgiving to St Anthony Mary.

May, 1899

Gustavo Mortara of Canneto sull'Oglio had, for fourteen months, been suffering from complications of diseases. His whole body was one immense sore, and a gangrene had already set in. The doctors had given up, and he awaited death. He could not hope in God because he hardly knew God existed. His wife, who was a devout Catholic, used every means in her power to get him to go with her to visit the altar of St. Anthony Mary. She used every persuasion, and with the help of others, at last induced him to go with her to the church. Entering, he asked what altar might that be where he saw so many votive offerings. She told him it was the altar of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria who worked such wonderful miracles and cured so many who invoked his intercession. "Oh" he said with a sneer, "you mean to say I suppose that I, too, shall be cured." His wife, always sweet and gentle to him, explained that to be cured, one must pray. After great persuasion, she made him promise to join her in saying an Our Father, a Hail, Mary, and a Glory Be for nine days in honor of St Anthony Mary. She stayed by his bedside, night and day which required more than human strength and courage; for the exhalations from the sores which covered his body made it almost impossible to approach him. She prayed without ceasing and got others to pray for him. The sick man kept his word faithfully and read (for he did not know a prayer) the Our Father, Hail, Mary and the Glory Be every day. On the morning of the fifth day of the novena to the Saint, after having slept all night, he awoke and cried out joyfully to his wife, "Teresa, I am cured! I am perfectly well! That saint has cured me, it is certainly he who has done it."
It was true. The sores were all perfectly healed. His skin, that had been the color of bronze, had assumed its natural color. His appetite had returned. In short, he was in perfect health.
On May 11, 1899, he came with his wife and daughter to the church to thank St. Anthony Mary for the wonderful miracle. He had a Mass of thanksgiving celebrated at his altar, promising to make a votive offering at his shrine and to recite in honor of his heavenly Benefactor an Our Father, Hail, Mary and a Glory Be every day for as long as he lived.

September, 1899

Antonio Marazzi, a father of a family of eight, the eldest of whom was not 21 years of age, fell from a hayloft. His head, having hit a sharp stone was terribly cut. He was immediately brought to the hospital where it was found that the wound was more than 3.5 inches deep. Almost immediately, tetanus, or what is more commonly known as “lock-jaw”, set in. After a careful examination, several doctors pronounced his case hopeless. One of his daughters and his sister-in-law (both of whom were hospital nurses), seeing that there was no longer any hope, turned to St. Anthony Mary. They put a pannolino on the sick man, had a Mass celebrated at the tomb of the Saint, and began a novena in his honor. This great Saint, so sweet and loving in life, and now ever ready to sympathize with those who in their sorrow turn to him with love and confidence, crowned their faith by working a wonderful miracle in Marazzi’s favor. The man was restored to perfect health. The cure was so complete that, as was testified by his sister-in-law on September 2, 1899, he was able to take up his usual employments just as though he had never been ill. These facts are not only attested by eyewitnesses but also are recorded in the hospital register where, not only this case, but also the circumstances connected with the cure, are minutely described.

Chapter VIII - THE VICTIM 1539

After a stay of about a month at Vicenza, Anthony Mary returned to Milan. Since the house near St. Ambrose where his religious lived was not large enough for the increasing numbers of the religious, clergy, and laity who flocked to the pious practices of their Institute, he began to look for a place suitable as a permanent abode for his Congregation. He had in mind the church of St. Barnabas and the neighboring houses. However, obstacles raised by the proprietors were so great that nothing could be done regarding the matter. It was only in 1546, seven years after the death of the saint, that they were able to purchase the place. It was bought by the Venerable Morigia, then superior. It may not be known by all that the Barnabites were so called from this their first permanent residence, St. Barnabas.

Anthony Mary, in the meantime, continued the works of his apostolate with ever-increasing energy. Foreseeing his end to be near, he wanted all his remaining devotion and strength to be used for the service of God. One could liken it to the toilers of the soil who towards sunset redouble their labors to complete the work imposed on them by the master of the vineyard.

The Countess Ludovica Torelli having for many years dealt with admirable patience the most unjust persecution from her relations was finally forced to sell her property of Guastalla to Ferdinando Gonzaga, brother of the Marquis of Mantua. This change of owners displeased the tenants and caused tension among them. The Countess asked Zaccaria's help, knowing well his ability in dealing with the most complicated affairs and knowing also the veneration in which he was held by the people of Guastalla. Anthony Mary started at once, arriving at Guastalla towards the end of May, 1539, where he was received by all as an angel of peace. He immediately ordered public prayers to implore help from heaven. In order to do the greatest possible good among the people, he resumed preaching, hearing confessions and all the works of charity that he had already done in other cities. So the people were not only pacified but crowded to him in vast numbers to hear his words, open their hearts to him, or ask advice. His influence over them was increased by an event which took place in the following way.

One day as the saint was going along the banks of the river Po, he met a young man. Anthony Mary, courteously greeting him, stopped, and fixing his eyes on him with a serious yet sweet look said, "I wish, my son, you would think well over the affairs of your salvation and arrange them while there is yet time, for my heart tells me you will die much sooner than you think." At this time the youth was in perfect health. Nevertheless, struck by this unexpected advice, he, there and then, made his confession to Anthony Mary with sincere repentance for his faults. It was good for him that he did. The next day he was called to appear before the judgment seat of God, having met his death by a terrible accident.

In this way Anthony Mary made himself everything to everybody by his ever-increasing zeal. But his body had become weak and languid. It must be known that to his labors, he added great mortifications, for not satisfied with taking very little rest at night, and even this little was taken on a hard board, he took so little food that he seemed to be on a continual fast. Often he punished his innocent flesh with hair shirts and disciplined himself to blood; above all, he did this when any new calamity befell the church or when he saw a soul in danger of being lost. At last, his strength exhausted, he fell a victim to his unbounded charity.

Being seriously ill, he was moved to Cremona to his mother's house. Here they used every remedy that art could suggest to preserve a life so precious, but he told them plainly that within the Octave of SS. Peter and Paul he would be called from this world. He said to his mother who was beside him, sad and weeping, "Do not weep, my sweet Mother, because before long" (as really came to pass) "you too will come to enjoy with me that eternal glory—that I hope (I am about) to enjoy." Hell attempted in these remaining hours a last assault, but after a long and severe struggle it was conquered once more; and God, as if to reward his faithful servant for the victory gained, sent him a sweet and consoling vision. In this vision, Anthony Mary saw the apostle St. Paul prostrate before the throne of God, praying that his life might be prolonged for the greater good of the Order founded by him; but the other Apostles had joined in an altogether different prayer and had obtained for him the favor of being quickly transferred to the glory of heaven. He saw then, across the veil of time, all that would happen to his Congregation, the severe trials that it would be subjected to, the hard struggles it would have to undergo. But he was consoled by God's promise that his Order should, by means of these trials, gain much. He related the vision to the Fathers Bartholomew Ferrari and Giambattista Soresina who had come from Milan to stay with him during his illness. Then with burning words he exhorted them to love religious discipline, to maintain peace and fraternal charity, and ever to advance in the love and fear of God.

On the 5th of July (Saturday afternoon), at the very hour when the first Vespers for the octave of the Holy Apostles were being sung in the church, as he himself had foretold, and after having received with the greatest fervor the Last Sacraments, the soul of Anthony Mary passed peacefully to God. He had not reached his 37th year! A life short in length, but long when we consider all he had done for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.