About the reverend Father and holy Brother Bernardine of Asti of Piedmonte, priest and preacher

Brother Bernardine was from a city called Asti located in the domain of the Duke of Savoia. He was born to very noble parents, very well off in temporal goods, lords of a castle called Eringo. His family was not short of wealth and power and enjoyed a good name in their city. Because of their generosity and good ways the whole city loved that family. Everyone regarded them as the most peaceful and kind gentlemen and nobility to be found. Many great men of learning have come from that household.

Therefore they nurtured Brother Bernardine with great refinement and instructed him in beautiful manners. As a boy he worked at his education and within a short time became an excellent humanist. When he was fifteen, his parents sent him to Rome. While he was residing there he became so enamoured with the things of the spirit and religious life that he decided to leave the world. And just as I have been very well informed because of the long acquaintance I had with him as my teacher, he left the world at the age of sixteen years, a pure virgin. By the grace of God his keep this way until his death.

He took the habit in the Congregation of Zoccolanti Fathers. In his novitiate he was the disciple of a holy man who took great care of him when he realised he was such a delicate and gentle young man. Nonetheless he became seriously ill with the harsh conditions that Religious life brings. The doctors thought he would become consumptive. However, those Fathers recognised his fine intelligence they and sorrowed very much. Every care was taken for his recovery. As it pleased the Lord god, he turned out well, although the harshness of the Order was always very difficult for him because of his delicate constitution. Nonetheless because he had had a good introduction in the world he gave himself to learning and within a short time he became an excellent theologian. He was well instructed in all the sciences, especially in scholastic doctrine. Often he was Minister in the Province of Rome and Procurator at court. When they did their reform, he was one of the principal Fathers who, together with the venerable Father Francis of Iesi, obtained the first Bull of the Zoccolanti Reform.

However when the Congregation of Capuchins came and he saw that the Reform of the Zoccolanti was so impugned, he decided to become a Capuchin. He was the Father who greatly adorned the Congregation of Capuchins. Many learned and holy men followed him from that Congregation.

Although he was very frail, nonetheless he led a most austere life in the Congregation. For just like Judas Maccabeus, like a roaring lion, girded with the sword of doctrine and zeal for the observance of the Rule he opposed those who impugned the holy Reform and reprimanded the boldness of many audacious persons who sought to bring it down. He was the one who gave shape and a regular way of life to the Congregation, just as will be said in its place in the book about Generals. He was so zealous about the perfect observance of the Rule that few Capuchin Friars surpassed him. For he always dressed in just one habit of natural wool and a poor little mantle. He never wanted to use any other garments either in summer or in winter. He used those clothes more as sackcloth than to protect him from the cold. When he used to speak about manner of dress in his sermons to the Friars he affirmed that to use three garments without true necessity and the permission of the Superiors was against the precept of the Rule. It was he, when he was General, who introduced wearing the mantle instead of the tunic to the Congregation as being more in conformity to our Saint Francis. One can read that he wore the mantle and never the tunic. He said this was more conformed to the apostolic life. For he affirmed that the garment that was divided into four at the death of Our Lord was a mantle, just as the holy Apostles then wore. He was also very austere in eating for never at any time did he eat more than once a day, and then very sparingly. Once after he had finished his triennium as General he was in our house at Narni for about a year because he was ill. He liked that place very much because it was devout and solitary in the woods. I was in that fraternity with him. On the evening of carnevale all the Friars asked him if he would eat a little and come to the refectory. The holy man came to the refectory and gave us a very beautiful sermon on the love of God. However he didn’t want to take more than a little amount of sparrow and half a cup of wine in order not to break the holy and praiseworthy custom that he had of not eating except once a day. He rarely ate meat and then very sparingly. He nearly always only drank water. He lived in this way so tenaciously in the Congregation that he never varied from the beginning until his death.

He was very zealous about holy prayer for although he would have been busy almost continuously with some kind of administration. Nonetheless he always celebrated [Mass] every morning. He always did and hour of prayer before and after Mass. I heard him say many times, “I never miss Mass without confessing it.” Although he would have been exhausted, when he did the visitation he hardly ever failed to get up for Matins in choir with the others and stayed for the discipline and prayer. He strongly reprimanded Friars who failed to get up for Matins because of a little effort required.

He was very zealous about time and said that if we will have to render an account of our every idle word on the day of judgement, we will especially have to render an account of our wasted time. “Because there is no interval small enough in which the servant of God may not do a loving action towards God through which he merits a degree of glory in paradise that is worth more than a thousand worlds.” Hence when he could no longer exercise any office in the Order because of old age, in order not to miss doing some good for his neighbour, he gathered the youngest (Friars) in Rome and taught them holy theology. And just as I have heard said, he read Scotus around eleven times. He taught with such ease that it seemed he knew it all by heart. Just as I hear him say, “Anyone who understands Scotus well knows something.”

He used to say to anyone who wanted to listen, “Know that the Congregation of Capuchins was born miraculously. This way of living according to the true observance of the Rule has been restored not by man but by the Holy Spirit. I acknowledge frankly that when I was among the Reformed Friars of the Zoccolanti, when they talked about the Rule I knew so little that I learned many things from the spiritual lay Friars. I never understood the true meaning of the Rule until I joined the Capuchins and I saw how those simple Capuchins observed it. They were not learned because they were all simple men instructed by the Holy Spirit. Because of the great desire they had to observe the Rule, God revealed to their minds they way they ought to live it.”

“Austerity of life makes good novices. There is no doubt. For all different kinds of people that come to the Order. Just as many come for faith and for baptism to the religion of Christ which is like a net that Our Lord says catches many fish, both good and bad. When it arrives at the shore of the sea the excellent fisherman Jesus Christ puts the good ones in a container and leaves the bad ones on the sand to be devoured by the birds. By this he wants to show us that he always purifies His Church. This purification should also be within the Order. For many come to the Order who are not called by God but by the evil spirits in order to bring tribulations upon the good and make the Order infamous before the world. However austerity sends them away better than the worries of the (novice) Master. Therefore as long as the Congregation lives austerely and poorly many wicked men will not stay in it. Therefore mortification and austerity are the foundation of religious life and greatly edify the world, especially the young.”

He said, “I am old. Nevertheless I do not know any woman by sight.” And when he was teaching or was in the choir, so as not to have occasion to see look at his young students he had a bench put in front of him. For even though he was old he always knelt during the Office. Once he gave there a beautiful exhortation to everyone about keeping ones eyes lowered. Turning towards one of us younger ones he said to him, “Know my son that I do not know you by sight although you have been with me for about three years. Now you who are young must think about what you will have to do.”

He was very zealous about holy prayer. Hence once when he was giving a very beautiful sermon about prayer he said these words. “In his Rhetorica Tullius says, ‘If you ask me in what it consists, I will answer that it consists in pronunciation. And if you ask me again I will tell you three times that it consists in the same thing.’ So I say to you, if you ask me in what does religious consist I will answer you that is consists in holy prayer. In the servant of God, all good comes from mortification and holy prayer. Every evil comes from little mortification and little prayer. There is no Friar, no matter how lax, who will not become an Angel by attending to holy prayer. Nor was there anyone so holy who did not become a devil in a short time by leaving holy prayer aside. Just like when we receive the holy sacraments in the right way the Lord God makes us certain of His grace, so in holy prayer He makes us certain of receiving from His Majesty the grace to ask of Him a another grace better than that one. Prayer extolled all the early Fathers before God. Therefore if you want to be good, pray. All those who imagine themselves passing through this stormy sea of the world without this little boat will remain deceived and will drown. And if you ask what was the intention of Father Saint Francis in giving us the Rule, I will answer that he had no other intention if not to direct his Friars to holy prayer, free from every impediment, using precepts to remove from us those things that impede holy prayer in us. He gives us the means that enable us to acquire the true love of God in which consists the observance of every good law. If you ask me what task Father Saint Francis wants us to do in the Order I answer with what he says in the Rule: to pray always to God with a pure heart. Therefore this was the reason he gave us the Rule. Observing it, it frees us from all eathly care so that we may be able to attend to holy prayer. It was an amazing thing that our Father Saint Francis said, that if Friars left holy prayer in order to acquire knowledge they would become benighted. Now if they become benighted by leaving holy prayer in order to study the sciences, which are good, how much more will they lose divine grace those who leave holy prayer not for study but for other vane things.”

When he did the visitation, if he found some Friar tempted he used to say to him, “Tell me my son, are you praying?” If he answered ‘no’, he said, “it is not remarkable that you are tempted. But it is a miracle of God that you have not been ruined. It is impossible to be able to persevere in the observance of the rule without prayer. The weapon of the servants of God that defeat the intrigues of the enemy is prayer. Therefore take up this powerful weapon with which all the valiant warriors of Christ have won.

Therefore the servant of God called all superfluous occupations cunning tricks of the demons to have us abandon prayer. He strongly reprimanded vagabond Friars who deal too much with seculars. He called them dead bodies that would soon be vomited from the sea of the Order up onto the shore. He said, “The worldly Friar is an enemy of Saint Francis. It is impossible for the worldly Friar to have spirit.” He strongly reprimanded the lay Friars who were given to idleness and didn’t want to do the tasks of the kitchen, the gardens and other things. He said that those who did not serve in the necessary tasks of the Order are not worthy to live off the alms. Nor can they be absolved unless they amend themselves.

When he was General he exhorted the Superiors very effectively on his visitations to seek advice. He added that the Friar who did not seek advice willingly is not worthy to be elected Superior. He gave the example of himself. Having no one for advice, he sought the advice of his lay Friar companion and it worked out well. He gave the example of that holy Father who so afflicted with penance, praying to God that He would reveal to him the meaning of a passage of Scripture. He never obtained the grace until he decided to be advised by an ignorant, novice Monk. As he left his cell God answered him in an Angel who clarified the uncertain passage. Humility was more valuable to him that abstinence and prayer.

He was very zealous about the observance of holy poverty. Trusting in divine Providence he never wanted his companion, Brother Angelus to take anything, except on long journeys when there were no dwellings he let him take a little bread. The same Brother Angelus told me how, when he was in Lombardy and near Monferrato one Friday. When the meal time came the holy old man could not go any further. Turning to his companion he said to him, “I am feeling faint. I need to eat. But how can we since we have no wine?” Brother Angelus replied, “Thanks to you because you would not allow me to bring a little bit of sausage.” When the hold old man realised that Brother Angelus was worried about this out of compassion he said to him, “Do not be concern. My Lord is powerful in providing for us.” While walking with much effort, Brother Angelus encouraged him to continue. As they approached a hillside he saw a very fair young man come down the hillside. He was carrying a flask in his hand and under his arms he carried four white loaves wrapped in a tablecloth. As he drew near the young man said to him, “Take it, Father, the Lord sends this to you.” Taking up the bread, he unwrapped the tablecloth to give it to him, and in a flash he disappeared in front of him. Stupefied by this thing, the holy man knew clearly that the provisions were sent to him through an Angel, not by a temporal lord, but by that one who governs everything. As they happily ate the bread and drank the wine they realised the Lord provided it by another sign. For that food gave them so much physical delight and they were so aglow with the love of God and inflamed with desire for holy poverty and to entrust themselves to divine providence by which He provides for the needs of his servants with great care, from that time onwards he was even more determined that his companion carry nothing. He included this in the Constitutions and strongly reprimanded friars who carried full pockets for journeys. He said it is not a thing for Friars Minor, who by solemn vow have sworn to confide in divine providence. When they arrived at some dwellings they gave the flask and the tablecloth to the poor for the love of God.

Often I heard him say, “I have made a pact with my Lord never to complain about food if His Majesty gives me bread and wine. When I was young I could go on bread and water. But now that I am old I need a little bit of wine.”

Therefore this great servant of God lived in the Congregation with such sincerity and holiness that everyone regarded him as holy. Hence having served God in the holy Order for about fifty-five years, he governed the Congregation of Capuchins for the nine years when he was General. He taught in Rome for three years. When these ere over he fell seriously ill. In that illness he made a general confession of his life since he was a boy. Quite ready and having received all the most holy sacraments, he said the evening office for the hours of Vespers and Compline. Then he made himself comfortable on his pillow. He gave to his sons final things to remember, exhorting them to the true observance of the holy Rule. When he had finished these that very holy soul flew to heave, as if he had quietly fallen asleep. He was buried in the house in Rome.

His Majesty showed through many miracles just how acceptable the life of this holy man was to Him. Fro the venerable Father Joseph of Milan was in our house in Milan. He was gravely ill. The doctors had given up hope. Being General, Father Bernardine had promised him as preacher to the city of Arezzo in Tuscany. Therefore when he wrote to him to come to fulfil the promise made to the city he was unaware that he was ill. So Father Joseph answered him by a letter: “Reverend Father. I am sorry that I cannot serve there. I am ill and all the doctors have judged my sickness incurable. Nonetheless I trust in your holy prayers. If you command this sickness of mine to depart it will leave immediately.” When the venerable Father heard this he wrote to him immediately, “Since you already have this good faith in the Lord that through my prayers He will heal you, entrusting myself to His goodness, on His part I command this sick to leave so that you may fulfil this holy obedience healthy and unimpeded. It was truly wonderful for no sooner had he read the letter that he with great happiness he sprang healthy from bed and immediately set out on the journey. As a sign of real health he went from Milan to Arezzo on foot all the way. He preached the entire forty-days there with the greatest approval. I saw this with my own eye and heard if all from the mouth of Brother Joseph.

He did another miracle when he was General and I was Vicar of the Province of Saint Francis. He came to the friary in Bettona where I was ill with a severe fever that the doctor thought very dangerous. The good Father came to visit me and said to me, “I am very sorry about illness. It would be a great misfortune to the Province if you cannot be there for the Pardon where I intend to assemble the Fathers. Therefore on the part of God I command this sick to leave and never return.” The following morning I went to Assisi.

He did another miracle when he was returning from the General Chapter in Naples with the holy man Brother Matthew of Leonessa. The time for dinner came and although there were a good number of Friars none of them had any wine. The holy man turned to Brother Matthew of Leonessa and said to him, “I am sorry that there is not even a little wine for love of Brother Matthew who is infirm.” Brother Matthew replied to him, “My dear Father, I feel badly because you are old.” The man of God replied, “Our Lord is powerful. He will provide for us if it pleases him. Draw some water from the spring.” Making the sign of the Cross over it he raised his eyes to heaven and blessed it. While they were eating they found they found that the water had changed into excellent wine. About five Friars drank some of it and they all said they had never tasted better wine. I have this from trustworthy Friars who were present at the miracle.

He did another miracle while he was staying in the house of one our friends in Assisi called Louis of Birello. It was at the time of the Portiuncula Indulgence. Father Bernardine of Monte dell’Olmo had given two sermons that day and was returning to the house of this Louis when he fainted because of exhaustion and great weakness. Because of this the holy man Brother Bernardine of Asti, who was General at the time, said to Louis, “Hurry and take him some good wine.” Louis replied, “My dear Father. I you wanted ten scudi or ten loads of grain, by the grace of God I cold give them to you because I have them. However I can’t give you any wine. Many days ago I emptied the only barrel there was. However, you will have some wine.” Turning towards one of his children he signalled him to go and buy some. Being aware of this, the holy man said, “I do not want you to buy wine. Go to your barrel. You will find some there.” When Louis replied that there was not a single drop there, he said to him, “God in the name of God and you will find some.” Louis went and tapped the barrel and wine came out as if the barrel were full. With great joy he took and wine and turned to the holy man and said, “This is wine that I did not put into the barrel, but the Our Lord God has put it there for the good of his servants.” Happily they all drank some of that wine. Because there was a great shortage of wine he gave some all the time to the Friars. When news of the miracle spread, many people sent in order to give some to their sick. There was enough for the whole family until the new wine came. To this day, Lord Francis Birello, the son of this Louis, testifies to this. Another brother of his also testified to it. He was called Lord John Mary. They were present along with other persons from round about.

He did another miracle in Rome. He was going to visit Mr. Battista Ferrarese who lived in Rome. He was a great devotee of our Congregation. He said to Reverend Father Bernardine, “Father, I have no more wine. I am completely out of it. Nor can one find any good wine to buy in Rome at this time.” The good Father replied to him, “You are a man of little faith. Go in the name of God and draw some out for us.” When he heard this. Mr. Battista went with great faith into the cellar. He was very well aware of the holiness of Father Bernardine. When he tapped the barrel he found it full. With great joy he brought a flask of it to Father Bernardine. Still after drawing some of it he gave it generously for the love of God to anyone who asked for it. There was enough for his family until vintage time. This was in 1536. Many trustworthy Friars testify to this, in particular the preacher Brother Anthony of Monte.

From this and many other miracles one can know the merits this venerable Father Bernardine of Asti had before God.

To the praise and glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of his most fair Mother and of our Father Saint Francis. Amen.