Borgia family; Borja, Francisco de, Saint, 1510-1572; Italy -- History -- 1492-1559
Natheless, he ordered the bell to
be rung as usual for supper though the board was bare; and, in the nick
of time, there came to the outer door an old grey-headed man with a huge
lovely boy, strangers in the city, who brought baskets of meat and bread
and fish and eggs and wine, and a purse of money: whom the pious have
called St. Andrew and an Angel.
The year 1555 saw three Popes; the Lord Julius P.P. III, Who died and
was succeeded by the Lord Marcellus P.P. II, Who died and was succeeded
by the Lord Paul P.P. IV.
In 1556, Padre Iñigo de Loyola died; and Padre Francisco instantly began
to invoke his departed chief,—_Holy Ignatius of Loyola, pray to the Lord
our God for me_;—while Padre Jago Laynez was elected General of the
Company of Jesus.
In 1558, also died the Holy Roman Emperor Carlos V, who long had given
himself to religion. On his death-bed, Imperial Caesar cried for “santo
Padre Francisco de Borja” to assist him in his agony. But the Jesuit was
unable to arrive except in time to preach the funeral oration. Caesar
had shown to the priest the unparalleled respect and honour of naming
him executor of his will; an office which the unworldliness of Padre
Francisco impelled him to decline. The royal and imperial family,
conscious of the κύδος which they would gain by his acceptance, appealed
against his decision. The Princess-Regent also invoked the General, who
issued a command upon obedience; which Padre Francisco perforce obeyed,
carried out the provisions of the will of Caesar Carlos V, taking as
little as possible of his own share, to avoid offence. Of course, all he
had would go to the funds of his order, his vow of poverty debarring him
from personal possessions.
In 1559, he was in Portugal once more, sick of an intermittent fever at
Evora. The people of this country, natural enemies of Spain and
Spaniards, so loved Padre Francisco that they said he must be a
Portuguese. During his sickness, he wiled the weary waiting and cheered
his soul by setting music to the anthem _Regina caeli laetare_
(“Rejoice, O Queen of Heaven”), and the hundred and seventy-six verses
of Psalm cxviii, Vulgate Version, _Beati Immaculati_, (Psalm cxix,
Authorized Version, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way.”) This year,
his sister Dona Juana de Borja y Aragona (Suor Juana de la Cruz,) died
In The Odour of Sanctity. She was the first Abbess of the Royal
Monastery of Sandalled (Discalced) Carmelites in Madrid. This year 1559,
died the Lord Paul P.P. IV and the Lord Pius P.P. IV succeeded Him. In
1560, Padre Francisco calmed the terrified population of Oporto during a
total eclipse of the sun, spontaneously preaching an impassioned sermon
on the eclipse, of mortal sin, which veils man’s soul from the Sun of
Righteousness. Then, again, sickness laid him low; neuralgia, paralysis,
ulcers. The vile body was resisting the strain which he made it bear.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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