About the holy man Brother Baptist of Arzona, Priest

Brother Baptist was from a land called Arzona situated in the Province of Calabria. He was born to honest parents. In his childhood he attended school until he learned to read and write. However when he reached about twenty years of age he decided to leave the fallacies of the world and to lead a religious life. Because the venerable Father Louis of Reggio and his companions led such an exemplary life in the Province of Calabria that the fame of their holiness, of the harsh life they led and of the many miracles that the Lord God worked through them spread throughout all of Calabria, this devout young man decided to follow them. When he went to find them, Brother Louis received him. In regard to food he followed the community life quite well. Nonetheless he was very zealous about the observance of the Rule and very careful in regard to holy prayer. After he had done all the necessary things for the sustenance of nature or the things that may have been imposed on him under obedience by his Superior, he spent all the rest of the time in prayer. There the servant of God laid the foundation of dedicating himself completely to holy contemplation since he felt that everything else was of little moment and that the goal of the Rule and of Religious life consists in it. Hence he rarely conversed but always stayed either in his cell or in the church. Both Friars and seculars who knew him regarded him as a man of great perfection. After his death many of them said publicly that they had received many graces from God through his prayers and that he had done the greatest miracles for them.

According to public opinion and reputation the clear experience was that God had endowed him with a prophetic spirit by which he often revealed hidden things and things about to happen. Once there was a gentleman from Catanzaro who was sick. With great faith and devotion he commended himself to the prayers of this holy man. The servant of God said to the messenger who was sent by one who asked him to pray for him, “Speak in this way to the Lord Baron. You cannot be healed of this infirmity unless you marry the woman in your castle.” The gentleman was amazed by this reply because secretly he had promised to marry her so that only God and the woman could have known about it. Because of this he realised that the servant of God Brother Baptist could not have known this except by a revelation from God. Because of this the gentleman grew in much more faith and devotion towards Brother Baptist than before. Realising that he was a true servant of God, he did not want to fail to obey his words for he immediately undertook to marry the poor woman, so fulfilling his promises. When this was accomplished he was perfectly healed. He gave thanks to God for it and he held the servant of God Brother Baptist in greater veneration from then on. He said to his friends, “I am very obliged to Brother Baptist of Arzona because by his holy prayers God healed me in body and soul at the same time.”

That this servant of God had the spirit of prophecy was demonstrated again. For there was a gentleman from the region of Stile who was in Catanzaro when his son fell so gravely ill that everyone thought he would die. Because of this, with great faith and devotion he went to find the holy man and very strenuously commended his son to him so that he would pray for the health of his body, since Brother Baptist was in Catanzaro at the time. Replying to him the holy man said, “Do not worry because your son with recover from this infirmity by the grace of god. He will be the mainstay and joy of your home.” And so it was, for the youth was restored to health immediately and then he came into great prosperity.

Another time in the same city of Catanzaro a trustworthy gentleman told about how he had made a feast and had spent a sum of money on it. The servant of God could not have known about it in any human way. Nonetheless one morning he met this gentleman. Because he was one of his devotees he reprimanded him firmly over the expense he had pain for such a contemptible vanity. Amazed by this, the gentleman knew clearly that holy man knew about if through a prophetic spirit and a revelation of God.

The holiness of this servant of God was manifested another time and it was a few days before his death. A lady, also from Catanzaro, because of the great devotion he had for Brother Baptist cut off a large part of the cord he wore in order to keep it with herself as a relic. When this saddened the man of God, she said, “Do not worry Father because I will get another better one for you.” However the servant of God was not pleased to be considered holy and he said to her, “Go and be blessed. I will not need another cord after this one, nor will you have any use of the one you have cut off.” And so it happened, for not long after that lady passed away to the better life, as did the man of God, Brother Baptist. Without needing another cord he passed away to the Lord.

Another time this servant of God was in a fraternity in a friary near the sea. When he was looking at the gulf he saw some sails and said to different Friars, “You are blessed because you will see thing in favour of the Christian faith which have never been seen in our time.” He wanted to hint at the destruction of the Turkish nation by the Christians on that sea, just as it happened in the time of Pius V.

It pleased the Lord God to want to reward this servant of His. For when he was in the fraternity in the abovementioned friary at Catanzaro, he became gravely ill. After having received all the most holy sacraments of the Church, that holy soul passed away to its Creator.

When news of this spread, the gathering of people who came from all around to see that holy body was such that the Friars were stopped for many days so that he were unable to bury it. However, after having recourse to the Bishop, he commanded that the holy body be buried and asked the crowd that they let him be buried. The Lord God wanted to demonstrate this miracle in order to manifest the sanctity of this holy man. There was a secular who had his spectacle case and he kept it with great devotion. It happened not long after that a friend of his became very seriously ill and remembered he had that case. With great faith and devotion he put it on him while praying to blessed Brother Baptist so that he might beg God through his holy merits for the health of the sick man. It was amazing! As soon as he put it on him he jumped out of bed perfectly healed, giving thanks to God and to blessed Brother Baptist. Therefore the great servant of God Brother Baptist was buried in the friary at Catanzaro.

To the praise and glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.