from that out nothing but frieze, and always going barefooted and bare-legged. Animated by the spirit which the Seraphic Father desired in his children, he not only adjusted his conduct to the rules of the Order, but was remarkable among the most observant for his exactness and modesty. He was before all, especially in his love for poverty, piety, and mercy. He was never ashamed of his humble birth; and though he could, by his attention to business, and his economy in what he ate and wore, have procured for himself a position of ease, his liberality to the poor was so great that he could never escape from his humble condition. In exchange he received from his beloved Jesus extraordinary graces. Among other proofs of the providence with which He watched over the life of His servant was this: When he was one day almost fainting from his continual abstinence, the Saviour Himself came and brought him food. John Francis was much more grateful for this favour than were the disciples miraculously fed in the desert, and the thought of it excited in his soul sentiments of humility and ardent love. Nothing could cool the burning fire within his heart; and no matter what work his hands were engaged on he tried to keep it alive with holy considerations and loving affections.

II.

Such was the edification he gave by his fervour, industry, and modesty, that his Eminence Cardinal Moscoso, Bishop of Jaen, moved by the fame of his virtues, wished to afford him a proof of his veneration and affection by giving him the direction of a dilapidated hospital. He could have offered him nothing

So, without

more suited to his charitable inclinations. forgetting his mats, he undertook the physical and moral restoration of that asylum of the suffering with such interest and zeal that in a short time it was in a better condition, with regard to the accommodation of the sick, than it was in the prosperous years of its foundation. The prelate was so pleased with the activity and prudence of our Matmaker that he made him one of his famuli, regarding him as a precious relic, and employing him in distributing alms to the poor and teaching catechism to the children. John Francis performed all gracefully and successfully, meriting by his virtues and lights from heaven not only the estimation of his own and strangers, of rich and poor, but the favours of his Divine Master for imprinting his consoling doctrine on the minds of the rude. In circumstances which appeared to render the thing impossible, he had foretold that he should be a priest, confessor, and director of nuns. And the thing which previously appeared impossible, was desired by many, who would formerly have laughed at the idea, but now held the man of God in high esteem. Among them was the above-mentioned bishop, and for this purpose he ordered him to study Latin and wear shoes, which he had not worn since he enlisted in the Third Order. Through obedience, then, he went through a course of studies in the schools of Baena; and when he had acquired the indispensable knowledge, he received Holy Orders, with no less satisfaction to his friends than consolation and joy to himself.

Cardinal Moscoso was raised to the archiepiscopal chair of Toledo, and took our devout Francis with him; but the latter, in his profound humility and recollection, could not accustom himself to the bustle and life of the ancient capital, and ran off to Jaen without telling any

one.

The new prelate, Dr. Andrade, received him as

his virtues deserved, and gave him a benefice in the parish of St. Paul of Baeza, where he had been baptised, and charged him at the same time with the direction and care of the convents of St. Catherine and the Magdalen : and these three duties he discharged with the greatest zeal and exactness. Though his learning was not great, his zeal inspired him with knowledge to give light to the ignorant, consolation to the afflicted, courage to the weak, fervour to the lukewarm, repentance to the obstinate, and, like a good shepherd, to lead his beloved sheep to the pastures of eternal life; and these he fed in all humility with good reading, as he did not attempt to preach to them, for so he had arranged with his superiors. Sometimes, however, he did ascend the pulpit, and there he gloried on one occasion in having been a matmaker, a trade which he followed even in the midst of his apostolic labours. Everyone was edified at seeing him, in broad daylight, mending and patching the mats of the parish, and he always carried a needle and thread for whatever might turn up. When any duty of importance was offered to him, he always pleaded his inability and lowness of birth; but if it were an office that might afford him an occasion of humiliation he undertook it with promptness and joy. For this reason he refused to become an officer of the Third Order, but thought nothing of going out daily to ask alms for the blessed souls in purgatory, and the relief of the poor. He attended the hospitals, and looked after the sick with all charity, and showed himself a perfect model of all virtues. It was enough to see him to be edified. Always jovial and modest, he spoke to all and instructed them. To this one he told an innocent jest, which lightened his sadness; to that one he uttered a pious sentence, which increased his fervour; to another a loving complaint, with which he corrected him; to a fourth a prudent advice, with which he taught him; and to all

some word of consolation or paternal tenderness, with which he gained their hearts.

III.

In spite of his profound humility, he could not prevent the bishop, Dr. Andrade, from recompensing his merits by making him rector of the Missionary Seminary, which he had founded in Baeza, and giving him also a prebend in the collegiate church. But he, as an expert in the way of the saints, who when elevated do not become proud, nor when lowered lose heart, but from everything draw matter for their spiritual improvement, from the hard rock of honour made the pure water of humility flow. When he took possession of it, he said to the assistants, in his own peculiar way: "Does not the matmaker look well, think you, in his choir cloak?" Notwithstanding his dignity, he never kept a servant, nor did he think it beneath him to attend the masons whenever any work was going on in the seminary. And though living in his own country, he was not on that account the less esteemed, particularly by his nuns, whom he directed with as much success as he did those of St. Elizabeth, when he was a priest of St. Ildefonsus of Jaen; on the contrary, all regarded him as a saint, and the very sight of him moved them to despise the grandeur of the world. Nor did his dignity or his duties interfere with the intimate communication he had always had with God. His increasing fervour taught him to find time, amid his numerous occupations, to commune with God and to grow in perfection to the last moments of his life. He died, at the age of 73, on the 9th of January, 1676. His

body exhaled a sweet fragrance, which remained a long time in the room where he expired. They buried him in a sumptuous grave within his own church, and the Lord worked some prodigies through his intercession. For the glory of his trade, in which he rose to such a degree of perfection, some of his handiwork, notwithstanding continual use, remained as good and as fresh as new for fifty years. Father Torres, the annalist of the province of the Observant Fathers of Granada, and Mr. Ramirez Luque, wrote his life.

BLESSED MARGARET, SERVANT IN AN INN.

I.

YOUNG women have an illustrious example of chastity in Blessed Margaret, who did not hesitate to shed her blood for the preservation of that fragrant lily, acquiring thereby the crown of virgin and martyr. It is not with certainty known where she was born, though Louvain, in Belgium, is generally supposed to be her native place. Nor are we aware of the rank or profession of her parents, being simply told, that when she was old enough to go to service, whether through their death or their poverty, she went as servant to a relation of hers named Amandus. He kept an inn; and, besides receiving all classes of guests, he gave charitable shelter to pilgrims and monks. That saintly house presented an agreeable spectacle to men and angels, for master, mistress,