i have been witness to the beatification of a saint; he was of the order of st. francis, and a great many brethren of that order were present, and in very high spirits on the occasion. there are a greater number of ecclesiastics beatified, and canonized, than any other order of men. in the first place, because, no doubt, they deserve it better; and also, because they are more solicitous to have saints taken from among men of their own profession, and particular order, than people in other situations in life are. every monk imagines, it reflects personal honour on himself, when one of his order is canonised. soldiers, lawyers, and physicians, would probably be happy to see some of their brethren distinguished in the same manner; that they have not had this gratification of late[453] years, may be imputed to the difficulty of finding suitable characters among them. ancient history, indeed, makes mention of some commanders of armies who were very great saints; but i have heard of no physician who acquired that title since the days of st. luke; or of a single lawyer, of any age or country.
a picture of the present expectant, a great deal larger than life, had been hung up on the front of st. peter’s church, several days before the beatification took place. this ceremony was also announced by printed papers, distributed by the happy brethren of st. francis. on the day of the solemnity, his holiness, a considerable number of cardinals, many other ecclesiastics, all the capucin friars in rome, and a great concourse of spectators attended. the ceremony was performed in st. peter’s church. an ecclesiastic of my acquaintance procured us a very convenient place for seeing the whole. the ceremony of beatification[454] is a previous step to that of canonization. the saint, after he is beatified, is entitled to more distinction in heaven than before; but he has not the power of freeing souls from purgatory till he has been canonized; and therefore is not addressed in prayer till he has obtained the second honour. on the present occasion, a long discourse was pronounced by a franciscan friar, setting forth the holy life which this expectant had led upon earth, his devotions, his voluntary penances, and his charitable actions; and a particular enumeration was made, of certain miracles he had performed when alive, and others which had been performed after his death by his bones. the most remarkable miracle, by himself in person, was, his replenishing a lady’s cupboard with bread, after her housekeeper, at the saint’s instigation, had given all the bread of the family to the poor.
this business is carried on in the manner of a law-suit. the devil is supposed[455] to have an interest in preventing men from being made saints. that all justice may be done, and that satan may have his due, an advocate is employed to plead against the pretensions of the saint expectant, and the person thus employed is denominated by the people, the devil’s advocate. he calls in question the miracles said to have been wrought by the saint and his bones, and raises as many objections to the proofs brought of the purity of his life and conversation as he can. it is the business of the advocate on the other side, to obviate and refute these cavils. the controversy was carried on in latin. it drew out to a great length, and was by no means amusing. your friend mr. r——y, who sat near me, losing patience, from the length of the ceremony, and some twitches of the gout, which he felt at that moment, whispered me, “i wish, from my heart, the devil’s advocate were with his client, and this everlasting saint fairly in heaven, that we might get away.” the[456] whole party, of which i made one, were seized with frequent and long continued yawnings, which i imagine was observed by some of the cardinals, who sat opposite to us. they caught the infection, and although they endeavoured to conceal their gaping under their purple robes, yet it seemed to spread and communicate itself gradually over the whole assembly, the franciscan friars excepted; they were too deeply interested in the issue of the dispute, to think it tedious. as often as the devil’s advocate stated an objection, evident signs of impatience, contempt, surprise, indignation, and resentment, appeared in the countenances of the venerable brotherhood, according to their different characters and tempers. one shook his head, and whispered his neighbour; another raised his chin, and pushed up his under-lip with a disdainful smile; a third started, opened his eyelids as wide as he could, and held up both his hands, with his fingers extended; a fourth raised his thumb to his mouth, bit[457] the nail with a grin, and jerked the thumb from his teeth towards the adversary; a fifth stared, in a most expressive manner, at the pope, and then fixed his eyes, frowning, on the advocate. all were in agitation, till the saint’s counsel began to speak, when a profound silence took place, and the moment he had made his answer, their countenances brightened, a smile of satisfaction spread around, and they nodded and shook their beards at each other with mutual congratulations. in the mean time, the cardinals, and the other auditors, who were not asleep, continued yawning; for my own part, i was kept awake only by the interlude of grimaces, played off by the capucins between the arguments. exclusive of these, the making a saint of a capucin, is the dulled business i ever was witness to. i hope the man himself enjoys much felicity since the ceremony, in which case no good-natured person will grudge the tedium and fatigue which he suffered on the occasion. i ought to have told you,[458] that the advocate’s reasoning was all in vain; the devil lost his cause, without the possibility of appeal. the saint’s claim being confirmed, he was admitted into all the privileges of beatification; the convent defraying the expence of the process.
as we returned, mr. r——y asked, if i recollected the saint’s name. i said, i did not. “we must inform ourselves,” said he; “for when i meet him above, i shall certainly claim some merit with him, from having done penance at his beatification[1].”
[1] i have been since informed, this new saint is called st. buonavantura; he was by birth a neapolitan.
