At the same time we wish to protest, out of veneration to the decrees of Urban VIII. of the 13th of March, 1625, and of the 5th of June, 1831, and of those of the Congregation of Rites, that if anything we have hitherto written or are about to write of the miracles of St. Rita be not approved by the Holy See, it ought to receive only that amount of credence to which the evidence adduced entitles it. Sister Mary Consiglia Giona, a native of Naples, who entered the convent of St. Cosmo in Conversano in the year 1859, contracted in 1863 a very painful malady of the eyes, which gave her no rest night or day. During six years she consulted many doctors, who prescribed various internal and external remedies, but always without result. Ultimately she had to leave the convent and go to live at Bari for six months under the care of an expert oculist, but even then she experienced no relief. The malady went on increasing, till, to her great grief, she lost the sight of her eyes, whilst the pain in them continued as great as ever. She thus returned blind to the convent, and having lost all confidence in human aid, she turned to God and asked Him to cure her through the patronage of the Blessed Virgin and the saints. She thought many times that in a dream she had seen the most Blessed Virgin, who was blaming her for having too much complained of her sufferings, and who exhorted her to offer her pains to God. One night when Sister Mary Consiglia had been suffering more than usual, worn out she fell asleep, and she seemed to see in a dream the three Babylonian youths, who wanted her to give them some bunches of grapes that were not yet ripe which were hanging from a branch near her room. She refused, and the youths then said: 'Why do you want a grace that is not yet ripe?' They disappeared as soon as they had uttered these words, and the nun was covered with great confusion. She continued, however, to have Masses celebrated, and to address her prayers to the most holy Virgin and to various saints, but the grace she sought was still denied her. About this time she heard people speak of Rita of Cascia as the saint who obtains from God what is otherwise impossible, but having lost her confidence she had no desire to have recourse to that saint. Nevertheless, she was induced, and almost constrained by violence of pain, to begin a novena of prayer in her honour. Shortly after the saint appeared to her in a dream, and assured her that she should soon be cured. And so it was. Her recovery had not long to be waited for; it was speedy and complete, without any human aid, for once more she joyfully opened her eyes to the light of heaven, and her pain ceased as if by magic. She has preserved her sight strong and perfect even to the present day, nor has she any need of spectacles even for reading, as so many of her sisters in religion have.