When others praised his piety and marveled at these wonders, he invariably smiled and said: "Don't you know that I am nothing but a fool and a dreamer?" He added that he would infinitely rather do works which should prove his faith than be the recipient of miraculous favors. But his prestige was so great that whenever he was prevailed upon or thought it his duty to exert his influence, it was paramount, and secured to him a powerful control in historical events. Thus it was when Pope Gregory XIV. had excommunicated King Henry IV., and his successor, Clement VIII., continued the fearful punishment in spite of all the entreaties of king and courtiers. Filippo Neri, foreseeing the dangers which were likely to arise from such measures for the Church, and deeply concerned for the welfare of the French people, retired to prayer, inviting the pope's confessor to join him in his devotions. These had been continued for three days without intermission, when at last the saint fell into a trance, and upon re-awaking from it, told his companion: "To-day the pope will send for you to confess him. You will tell him, when his confession is made: 'Father Filippo has directed me to refuse Your Holiness absolution, and ever to confess you again till you have relieved the King of France from excommunication.'" Clement, deeply moved by this message, summoned immediately the council of cardinals, and Henry IV. was once more received into the bosom of the Church. In spite of this great influence, Neri sternly refused all honors and dignities, even the purple, which was offered to him three times, and died in 1595, eighty years old, on the day and at the hour which he had long since foretold. That his visions were accompanied by actual stigmatization has already been mentioned.