About the holy man Brother Anthony Corso, priest

By nationality, Brother Anthony was from the island of Corsica. At an early age he attended school with the intention of becoming a Priest. However since there wasn’t a teacher on the whole island who taught grammar, nor was there anyone at the time who had such grammar, he only learned to read. However when he saw all the enmities and the licentious and backward way of life that was on the island he dreamt of coming to Rome. Staying there for some time he drew close to the Theatine Priests. However he felt that he was still in the world so in order to flee every occasion of evil he became a Friar in the Franciscan Order. He was received into the Congregation of Clareni at the age of ab0out twenty-five years. He stayed in that Congregation for some years and always led a very austere life. Most of that time he was in a very devout little place the Clareni had near Castelnuovo.

It pleased the Lord God that when the Congregation of Capuchins emerged, he burned with an incredible desire to become a Capuchin and live the anchoritic life. Because of this he went off immediately to find Brother Louis of Fossombrone who was staying at Our Lady of Miracles. Brother Louis received him with great charity and sent him to the Province of Saint Francis to the house of Saint Valentine’s near Foligno. He led a miraculous life there for three or four years. For he got a mail jacket and wore it as a hairshirt upon his bare skin. When he felt that he could not give himself the affliction that he wanted, he managed to get another with and extremely coarse lining. Finally he had one made of hemp rope. He wore that almost until he died. He said it was the roughest that could be found. However because some one told him that skin of a sow cut in half and worn like a jacket could afflict him like no other, and because he never wanted to stop mortifying his enemy the flesh in order to feel something of the affliction that the Saviour of world, Jesus Christ, felt for us, he got hold of one and wore it until the day he died. He never failed to find many other ways to afflict his body, for when he was in that friary he decided that he wanted to imitate the abstinence of the early Fathers Saint Hilarion, Macarius, Anthony and the others. So he gave the order that he be given five ounces of soaked beans each day, or five ounces of figs or some other fruit. He persevered in this abstinence for an entire year without ever eating bread and while only drinking water. However when he felt then that it was hard to have that fruit, he decided to eat only bread and water. He persevered in this abstinence for many years. However when he was in the friary at Montemalbe he started not to eat at all except three days a week, and then only bread and water. So he ate on Sunday evening, Tuesday and Thursday. When he was transferred from Montemalbe he was assigned, according to his desire, to the devout little friary of Monte Casale where he finished his life.

This servant of God was very austere in dress for he never wanted to wear anything else except just one habit without a mantle nor any other garment both in summer and winter. When he was young he went barefoot a long time. However when he was old he wore sandals. He did the discipline many times, giving himself six thousand six hundred and seventy six strokes. And just as I heard it from his own mouth, he used to withdraw into a secret place. There he took off all the clothes he was wearing, and with the discipline beat himself from head to foot, continuously saying psalms. He endured that beating for five hours. At the end of that time he said he had given himself many strokes. He knew this from experience because the first time he counted the hours because he had an hourglass nearby. He taught this to many devout friars, however when they did it few were able to last because of the many molestations that the devil gave them during that action. During the night he slept little, three hours at most. All the rest of the time he spent at holy prayers. After Matins especially he persevered until morning during which time he prepared at length for holy Mass. During winter, once he celebrated Mass he withdrew to his cell. During summer he withdrew to the woods. Because of the fast he continued in prayer until he ate. Once one of the Friars said to him, “How is it possible that you can pray for so long, especially at night? What do you do so that you do not fall asleep?” The servant of God answered, “Our Lord Jesus Christ gazes at the heart of His servants. He does not delight so much in good works, which come more from His Majesty than from us, as much as He likes good desires. I am content to stay with that desire to honour His Majesty and on my part to stand ready to receive, if it pleases Him to give me some gift or grace. If he gives it to me, it is because of His mercy. If He doesn’t, I have not wasted any time by paying my respects to His Majesty in the church and being ready should it please him to make use of this lowly instrument. Know that the servants of God lose many graces because they do not do what they can on their part. The Lord does not say absolutely that He wants to give to us, however He urges and advises us with great insistence in the gospel if we want His good Spirit, which He wants to give it us if we ask it of Him. He says, ‘Knock and it will be opened to you. Ask and it will be given to you. Search and you will find.’ We do all these things in holy prayer. We contribute nothing of our own other than to prepare ourselves to receive. Therefore I a sinner, recognising that I am naked of any good, have recourse to the one who can give.”

After his meal, since he felt this (time) was not suitable for contemplation, he said the Office of the Dead or the Seven Psalms. All the rest of the time he spent in holy contemplation. Once when I was young I was in the forest of Montemalbe because I wanted to see what he did there. Once I saw him walking, saying in a soft voice, “My Jesus! My Jesus!” His face was so happy, his cheeks looked like two vermilion roses. This happened to him because his mind was continuously transformed in God through his great fervour of spirit. Once I said to him, “Father Anthony. You look like a young man with such a rosy complexion.” The servant of God replied, “Many others have said that to me. I don’t know where the colour comes from. It can’t come from eating too much. I feel I am so red because of the embarrassment I have because of the love of the laity. But that does not matter to me!”

Brother Thaddeus of Montepetriolo asked him how long he had persevered in that way of life. The servant of God answered, “I have persevered in this austerity for about twenty five years, but have I done in all this? Works are good only insofar as they please God, and they please His Majesty when they are done because of His love. I have striven in this to rid myself of self-love, which infects all good works. Who can ever free himself from vainglory in his good works? Unless Our Lord God directs our heart, all our works would be done by us and not by Him. If they come from us without the collaboration of divine grace, they stink before God. Our whole concern consists in this – that were be purified from the poison of our passions. Then all our works, however small they may be, will be acceptable to His Majesty. It is necessary to prepare oneself externally. All those things we keep for our particular use without real necessity impede us so that we may not be called real observers of our Rule. They retard the Spirit in us and oblige us to the pains of purgatory.”

When I said to him, “God willing we will go to purgatory. We will be sure that the pains will come to an end. Speaking for myself, I would go there.” The holy man replied, “Not me. I will do as much as I can so as not to go there. What is this desire for purgatory other than the negligence of caring little about perfection? The bad habit we have taken up makes us care little about venial sins and keeps us in the great danger of bring ruined in mortal sin. It is necessary to be on guard against venial sins, to take then into account seriously and to be very careful to free ourselves of them. They oblige us to purgatory. However to be on guard against them so as not to go to purgatory would be a small thing. However the fact remains that we do not want to do violence to our negligence that hurt us so much. They keep us lukewarm. We are never in the hands of God, ready to do what pleases Him, and they impede us from perfection. The mortification of Father Saint Francis enriched heaven and earth. Such light came by it that was like a like a sun that gives light to the entire world. The Lord would never have led his exemplary life and that of his holy Order to such heights of perfection if Saint Francis has not tried so much to mortify himself. Therefore we do great harm to ourselves and to others who would have been enlightened by us if we don’t want to make a little effort. On the other hand, you do not know what the pains of purgatory mean. We are obliged to tend towards perfection, although we must not do good in order to avoid those pains, but for the love of God.”

Hence in order to avoid idle words he rarely and hardly ever conversed with anyone. He said, “We will have to give an account to God for every small moment of time we have spent uselessly.”

Therefore when he was in the devout friary of Monte Casale, in the greatest fervour he ever had, he fell ill and endured it with amazing patience. He received all the most holy sacraments and when he was near to death, fixing his eyes on heaven, he said, “Oh blessed Friars, oh blessed Friars!” The he added with fervour, “I tell you, Capuchins, sons you a re blessed because you are in this first fervour. I see many crowns that Our Lord has prepared for you.” Yet at these words the Friars brought him some warm clothes to bring him some comfort in the in the great pain he felt. Finally, returning with the warm clothing they found him half kneeling, up against his pillow with his hands joins as if he were praying and having rendered his spirit to the Lord. The lay Friar John of Puglia, a man of great perfection, was present at his death and washed his body which now rests under the altar step in the church at Monte Casale.

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

Through this servant of His, the Lord God worked many miracles. For when they were in that friary of Saint Valentine, he had a lot of alms to the poor. From rich persons he often procured some wool. After having it woven and brushed he had the poor clothed with it. In the same way he procured some grain from the rich and during the time of famine he helped poor persons in their grave needs. Because of this he reputation for holiness spread so that any one who had something wrong went ti him with great confidence. Many were healed by the sign of the Cross. These were almost countless and moreover no count was kept. They are forgotten and so I cannot write about them. There were many others who were ill and well off. He had them give alms to the poor and promised that they God would heal them when they gave the alms. So it happened and there was a great number of these.

Of the many miracles that I remember and for which there are trustworthy witness who were present, one was about the boy of John of Terni, doctor of Foligno. The boy had an incurable illness. The servant of God Brother Anthony ordered him to give alms to certain shameful poor persons. Immediately the boy was healed.

He did another miracle in the friary of Saint Valentine. Prospero of Verchiano had a boy who had been paralysed for about four years. On hearing about the reputation of this servant of God, his wife said to him, “Let us take the boy to Colle because our relative Jerome Trombaccio is very familiar with that holy many who does miracles. I hope that he will make a sign of the Cross over him and commend him to the Lord God and that by his merits God will restore his health.” On arriving at Colle, the father, mother and Jerome brought the boy to Saint Valentine’s. Calling the servant of God, with great faith they begged him to pray to God for the child. Lifting his mind to God, standing in the little courtyard of the friary, Brother Anthony went some distance from the boy whom his mother held in her arms. He said to her, “In the name of God, put him down on the ground and let him walk by himself.” The woman replied, “Father, he will fall over straight away if he is not held.” He said to her again, “In the name of Jesus, put him down and come to where I am.” It was amazing, when she put him on the ground the boy stood quite well on his own feet, as if he had never had any sickness at all. When his mother called him the boy came running with great joy and threw himself into the arms of his mother. He was perfectly healed. Many Friars were present when this happened. Then his father and mother went before the Blessed Sacrament with the boy and with many tears gave thanks to the Lord God. They also thanked Brother Anthony very much and from then on regarded him as a holy man.

His fame spread so that Francis of Vegia with great faith brought his son to the holy man. The boy had been gravely ill for many months. When Brother Anthony made the sign of the Cross over him, he was perfectly healed straight away.

When the venerable and holy priest Don Vincent was a child, he often took epileptic fits. Because of this, his mother, a very devout woman, brought her son to Saint Valentine’s. When Brother Anthony made the sign of the cross over his head they boy was perfectly healed and that sickness never returned. That Don Vincent Pacino testifies to this and I have it from his own mouth.

The Lord God worked another great miracle through this servant of His. It was when he was going to the friary of Monte Casale about a quarter of a mile from the Fratta di Perugia and near a shrine like a tiny little church. A totally blind boy was presented to him. Taking the boy by the hand he led him into the little church. In front of a statue inside he had everyone present say five “Our Fathers” and five “Hail Maries”. When these were finished he made the sign of the Cross over the boy. Calling him by name he said to him, “My son, look at me in the face.” When the boy lifted his eyes towards him, Brother Anthony said to him, “Do you see me?” The boy answered, “I see you very well.” Because of this miracle, everyone again knelt down before the statue of Our Lady and gave endless thanks. Turning to the mother he said to her, “He is your son, healed. The holy Virgin has healed him. Raise him well and be devout towards the Mother of God.”

Furthermore, Silvester of Borgo San Sepolcro had lost his sight almost completely. Because he was very devoted to the Congregation he begged the Guardian of Monte Casale, who was Father Joseph Romano the nephew of Cardinal de Valle, that for the love of God he give him the spectacles of Brother Anthony. Taking them and putting them on with great devotion his sight returned immediately, exactly as it was in his youth and it lasted that way until his death. I heard this from his own mouth and from his brother Julius who was present.

The Lord God worked another miracle through this servant of his. There was a monastery of nuns in which some of the Religious were in the hands of the infernal demon. With his holy prayers and wound instruction he brought them back to the grace of God. Wanting to leave that Monastery he entered the servant’s quarters in order to have something to eat. The enemy of human nature, angry at having lost those Religious, changed into the shape of a farmer. He went crying out throughout the city, “Know that at the Monastery there are two male Religious up to no good. They are the one who have disgraced the monastery. If you do not believe it, look in the house of the Nuns servant. They are locked inside so that they can do what they feel like tonight.” In a flash he ran to that room and muttered some words that Brother Anthony did not understand and locked him inside. Then he immediately disappeared. Finding himself with his companion imprisoned, aware that the enemy had done it, with many tears he began to commend himself to the Lord so that He might free them from that infamy. The Nuns’ servant was some distance away and heard a voice that said to him, “Go back to your room as quickly as you can.” Returning quickly the city topsy-turvy, going to the Monastery with a possie. When he opened his room, because he had put the Friars there and given them to eat, he confronted the crowd. He made them all understand that the Friars were two holy men and that that farmer had been the devil and had locked them inside. In this way the prayer of the servant of God stopped the plan of the infernal enemy.

From this we can know how many merits the servant of God, Brother Anthony Corso had, so that we may believe that he now always prays to the Lord God in heaven for us. Amen.