The Marian Garden: Ancient and New

on account of God, his wife having died and leaving behind the children born of her, he left the world and his fatherland and entered this religion of ours, in which he lived for a long time as a solitary in the Convent of Increa, known only to God and with great profit to his soul.

9. Blessed Brother Raphäel Cannensis Raphael of Canna was so fervent in divine love that he felt neither cold nor ice, and at all times he walked with his head bare and his feet bare. Cent. 4. l. 3. c. 6.

10. Blessed Sister Euphemia Paletonia Euphemia Paletonia was so ignited by the most ardent love of God that she did not know how to speak of other fleeting things of the world, and out of love, she was most prepared to undergo martyrdom. Besides the fact that she was assiduously vexed by the devil and afflicted by bodily infirmity, she was accustomed to saying that to die for the love of her sweetest heavenly spouse would be a most joyful gain for her. Cent. 4. l. 4. c. 5.

11. The sweetness of divine love makes one embrace enemies with such an affect of piety, as if they were the best and greatest of friends. Such was Blessed Sister Bionda de Veruchio Bionda of Veruchio, as will be said under the word Injury. From Cent. 2. l. 4. c. 13.

12. A soul truly transformed by the love of God loves every creature equally and considers every evil of its neighbor as its own. Hence it is that Blessed Sister Artemisia Tudertina Artemisia of Todi was no less saddened by the evil of another than she was gladdened by the good of a neighbor; she also wept for the sins of others as if they were her own. Cent. 4. l. 4. c. 5.