About the holy man Brother James of Cetona, Priest

The highest virtue with which our Lord God adorns our soul, when He frees it from all diabolical bonds, is the virtue of charity and the perfect love of God and neighbour. This virtue has no greater enemy than the disordered love for ourselves and for all earthly things. The Saviour of the world wanted to show us this when He came and took on human flesh. In this world he wanted to possess nothing. Rather in His childhood sustained His most holy Humanity and that of the Queen of Heaven with alms offered them to sustain Him. All this was to show us that this world is nothing more than a pilgrimage. Rather our goal should be future blessedness in the next world. Therefore since His Goodness wanted to start to teach us His servants how we should walk in order to arrive at that goal preordained by His Majesty, He took the pilgrim life, journeying all the time that He deigned to dwell with us. He did this to teach us that the infernal enemy has always sowed the love of earthly things in our souls in order to stop this act of loving God and neighbour that is so acceptable to His Majesty. Therefore this was the highest sentiment that His Majesty gave to the early Founding Fathers of the Church. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit they ordered that all those who wanted to be in the family of Christ to live in common. Understanding this, the servant of God Brother James always led a pilgrim life in this world.

Brother James was from a land called Cetona situated in Tuscany in the domain of Siena. He was born to honest parents. In his childhood he attended school until he learned to read well. However at about the age of seventeen, when he recognised the fallacies of this world, he decided to leave it and lead a religious life. It pleased the Lord God that he was received into the holy Order of Saint Francis. However not long after when the Capuchins came, and since he burned with an incredible desire to suffer, he came to the holy Congregation and was one of the first Fathers of the Province of Tuscany. However since he knew that to stay where he was well known would have been to his great detriment because of relatives, friends and also Friars who were close to him, he immediately came to the Province of Saint Francis. There he led a life that was more angelic than human just as I saw with my own eyes for I was very well acquainted with the holy man.

The servant of God went barefoot continuously. However when the severe cold came he would have worn some sandals. He wore so few garments that it was incredible how a human body in such extreme cold with so few clothes could live. He was physically small and with a very gentle countenance and it was well know that the strength to suffer had been given him by God and not human nature. He ate very little and almost continuously ate once a day since he felt that leading a frugal life would serve contemplation more than would fasting on bread and water, so as not to weaken the body too much. Nonetheless he fasted on bread and water for the vigils of Our Lady and the Fridays of the great forty-days. He conversed little with anyone. That little was with such kindness and gentleness that he was like an earthly Angel. His face was very gracious and he almost always spoke about the things of God. When he heard such talk he was moved. With a smile on his mouth he bowed and fled away either to the church or to the woods. Because of this he always sought to stay in solitary friaries, occupying himself continuously in holy prayer. He was very careful not to be known by seculars and said that dealings with seculars was the cause for Friars to waster a lot of time. He said, “Many times I have been talking with seculars and they left my head full of tales so that when I returned to prayer the enemy makes them come to mind and very I often I haven’t been able to do a scrap of prayer.” Many times addressing the young he said to them, “My sons, love solitude, because it is the mother of the spirit without which it is impossible in the Order to have the grace of prayer. Therefore three things are necessary: silence, abstinence and solitude. The fourth is purity of mind. Know that just as our body is nourished by food and without it we would die, so our soul is nourished and strengthened and lives on holy prayer. When a Friar leaves aside attendance to holy prayer his soul immediately becomes infirm. It weakens and cools down and is quite disposed to sin. If it does not return to the solid food of holy prayer it dies in a short time.” He said, “Know that our Rule attends to nothing else but to regulate us for holy prayer, the goal of religious life.”

This is the reason why this servant of God never wanted to accept any office in the Order. Rather with such charm and modesty he excused himself from what the Superiors granted him. This was obvious in the Provincial Chapter assembled in Perugia. When the Father Definitors chose this servant of God they did all they could to make him Guardian. However he excused himself with so much charm and kindness that the Fathers left him be.

For many years he stayed in the Province of Saint Francis. However when he realised that almost all the Friars knew him he decided to do all he could to be moved from that Province in order to observe his prime purpose which was to live unknown and without any impediment to holy prayer.

Just as I saw in the friary at Collepepo, this servant of God was adorned with the spirit of prophecy. In that friary and in my presence he showed clearly that he saw things of the future. So two young fellows were there, one a Priest and the other a cleric. The Friars thought both of them were very spiritual. This was because they were very fervent at holy prayer and very recollected. They fasted on bread and water almost continuously. The Friars talked about the holiness of that Priest quite a lot. However when this servant of God Brother James came to that friary of Collepepo, when he saw that Priest he looked at him just once and then shrugged his shoulders. He was completely astonished. Then he lowered his eyes and never looked that Priest in the face again, as if he had received some great scandal. On the other hand the Cleric often talked with him and showed him great affection. Astonished at this it occurred to me that that Priest did not like the way he behaved, especially since it was the feast day of that friary he showed special gladness. However it turned out exactly like what happened to our Father Saint Francis. When he was going on visitation a very enthusiastic Friar was highly praised to him as a very holy man who fasted on bread and water continuously. He was so enthusiastic about holy silence that in order not to break it he used sign language when he went to confession. The Seraphic Father recognised the deception of this poor fellow and speaking prophetically said to those who praised him, “Not much time will pass before this Friar whom you praise as holy will leave the Order. He will return to the world and die horribly.” And so it was. When the holy man Brother James saw that Priest who was so austere, with signs rather words he revealed the same thing that the Priest would leave the Order. That is what happened. Shortly after he left the Congregation and was an apostate for many years and died suddenly so that many thought that he had been strangled by demons.

Further to this, this holy man was in a Provincial Chapter at the same time when there was a big difficulty. This was not from the Friars but came about because of a wicked man who gave that Chapter great trouble. This holy man consoled everyone so that they might have patience because the matter would turn out in such and such a way. This was something from God because it turned out exactly as he said. Father Baptist of Norsia told me this. He was first Definitor at that Chapter.

Of no lesser importance was the time when a young Lay Friar was tempted by the devil to attempt to become a Priest. He left our Congregation. This was in the Province of Tuscany where he was and where he, a native of the state of Siena, had been clothed. The wretch went to another Order. Since he knew somewhat how to read, he knew what to do in order to get permission from those Fathers to become a priest. After receiving Orders he celebrated Mass for some years. He knew that he could not celebrate Mass legitimately since he had been ordained under false pretences because he had made profession as a Lay Friar and because a simoniacal Bishop had ordained. Still liked that dignity so much that he did not care about staying in sin so as not to lose it. It pleased the Lord God to strike this poor fellow with such a great fear of dying damned so that he could no longer resist the goad of his conscience. So one day he decided to return to the holy Congregation of Capuchins. The General of our Congregation Father Bernardine of Asti received him kindly. After seeking the advice of many learned men about whether the poor fellow should remain a Priest or be obliged to return as a Lay Friar, the matter finally came to His Holiness Julius dal Monte. His Beatitude wanted him to return as a Lay Friar. However so as not to submit him completely to despair, the Father General granted him the Breviary and to be able to say the Office by himself, but could not come to the choir. It seemed that he was contented. Later however he often felt so desperate that he could not rest day or night. Once he was so blinded by temptation that even though the Friars consoled him and were around him continuously nonetheless he took a piece of cord and hung himself. However the Friars came running and by the grace of God did himself no harm. This servant of God Brother James said that he was dissolute and that it turned out just as he said. One day he was in a friary with many Friars as they were carrying out certain important devotions ordained by Holy Church. A very loud voice was heard. When the poor Friar heard that voice, without saying anything he sped off quickly towards that voice. Fearing some evil the Friars ran behind him. However when he opened the door of the friary he ran away as quickly as he could and when the Friars called in order to stop him he turned away. The Friars said to him, “Where are you going, poor fellow?” He answered with a very loud voice, “To hell! To hell!” He was never seen again and no one knew what became of him. It was thought that that loud voice was the devil and that the devil led him away body and soul by means of that desire and great sin he had committed in leaving the Order to go away to become a Priest. It was guessed that there had been an apparition of demons who deceived him to make him leave the Order to have him become a Priest, and that there was pact between them that would have been made freely with the devil. It could easily have been that God had shown this to the holy man Brother James. Therefore he said to those with whom he spoke about it, “With him there is nothing else to say because he has had it. You will see.”

This servant of God was so humble that anyone who had any dealings with him would have thought him an ordinary Religious because he never showed anything special. Rather he always concealed is good works and avoided all individualism in public in every way. He conformed himself to the others in everything. Secretly however he worked so that he was always occupied in the things of God. Therefore he always avoided all those things that display superiority and always made himself subject to everyone. He did this to avoid all the offices of the Order in order to flee from being superior since in his heart he considered himself as the vilest creature in the world. He never tired of serving his neighbour especially the old and the sick. He served them with such patience that no one ever saw him exhausted or angry. This was the virtue in which his soul most exulted and glorified in divine grace. You would never have heard anything unpraiseworthy come from his mouth; rather he always portrayed himself as the most useless Religious that there was in the world and he always avoided becoming known. Because of this he had himself removed from the Province of Saint Francis because the Friars began to have a great devotion towards him. When the servant of God became aware of this his humility was such that he could not stand for those praises. Just as one cannot displease a proud person more than by dishonouring, on the other hand one cannot displease a truly humble person more than by praising and honouring him; for the truly humble person has no greater enemy than himself and when others help him to confound his own self nothing gives him greater pleasure. That is what Father Saint Francis did when he always wanted to be reprimanded by his companion, and wanted him to say, “Wretched son of Peter Bernardone!” So when anyone one told Brother James some fault of his as a test, it seemed that he was thrilled. With joyful eyes and a smile he answered, “Are you surprised that I have that fault? Don’t you do not know the worse ones that I know about; that if God lifted his hand from me I could leave the Order and do all kinds of evil and condemn myself like many others. Know, my dear brother, that if God took His hand from someone’s head, there is no one who would not fall into every wicked vice. Do no be surprised when one of your brothers commits some fault. Instead marvel when you see him walk uprightly and remain in the state of perfection. For sinning is proper to corrupt nature and doing good is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore when we sin, we sin as men. However when we do good, we do it as servants of God, purified, renewed and established in doing good through grace by God Himself. This is one of the greatest miracles God does: that a man who is all sin who becomes an Angel of God by the grace of the Holy Spirit and who clothed in virtue lives in this world as though he does not have a body. This is a change that no one else can do except the Holy Spirit. I remember when I was in the world having seen such a dissolute man who, if he did not commit more sins it was because he was worn out. He was so habituated to doing wrong. I saw him convert in a flash and become a holy man. What do you think converted him? You will answer me that it was some preacher or someone who turned him around from bad to good with sound instruction. You are deceived. I am not saying that these things are not good, but if God does not touch his heart all the words are vane. Know that I am that big sinner and I know how may Lord spoke to my heart and brought me to this holy Order almost by force. And I know that there is no more effective virtue in the world in truly giving our very selves to God than holy humility. It brings us to the highest knowledge of God had in this world. When you see a young man who behaves like an Angel in the novitiate and who soon become lax, blame nothing but the lack of humility. Little by little he begins to consider the high offices of the Order. So he becomes so infatuated with himself and in order to have those ranks he puts prayer aside and gives himself to studies with the desire to become great. Little by little, completely blinded by the enemy, he forgets humility. He comes to the point where he no longer serves God but himself because all the works he does are for the purpose of making him great. In this way be comes a reprobate without any merit before God. This was the light that God gave me in the beginning of my novitiate – that if I wanted to avoid every wrong I should embrace holy humility with every degree of perfection and never abandon it. In this way I would be freed. May it please the Jesus Christ who inspired me to give me the grace to persevere and die in that humility.”

After this servant of God had been in many Provinces and had given the greatest example of humility in them all, with holy obedience he decided that he wanted to die in the Province of Genoa. He resided there some years with such edification of those Fathers that they all regarded him as holy. Even though he was already old nonetheless he did not fail to do what the others did, getting up for Matins even during the bitter cold and coming to most of the Hours. The Father Guardian said to him, “Father James, you are doing too much. You are an old man and can no longer do all this.” The servant of God replied, “My Father Guardian, this is the greatest incentive that I have: my conscience tells me that I have never done anything good. Now I am old and truly cannot do anything more. Nonetheless I do not want to fail to do this little bit so that God, through His mercy, may forgive me for what I would have been able to do and did not do.”

Therefore when this servant of God was in the friary at Asti in Piedmonte he prepared himself for death. With careful preparation he made a general confession. God gave him the special grace to know some months in advance that he had to die soon. In that time he gave himself more than ever to fervour that it seemed he had just begun to serve God. When the time came he fell ill. In that sickness the servant of God received all the most holy sacraments and passed away to his Creator. He was buried in a chapel. Some years later when I arrived at that friary I asked the Friars where they had buried him. On going to that chapel I saw his skull on top of the tomb where the Friars had put it out of devotion. I asked the Friars if they had seen any miracles. The whole Province had the greatest devotion towards him. However, because those Friars were young and since he had been dead many years, they said that from the old (Friars) they had heard about great things God had worked through this holy man. However since I was not able to get reliable information I am not writing them down. Quite enough is his life of forty-five years approximately in the holy Order, where he never wavered and always persevered in the best example until the end of his life. He flew away to heaven full of merits and now we may piously believe that that blessed soul does not stop praying for us.

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