Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENA IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS C IMILAR discoveries will be easily made by anyone who takes the trouble to make a separate and careful study of the lives of the best known saints. The examples given above, are, however, sufficient for present purposes. Let us now see what effect their vocation, once solidly established, has upon the natural gifts of the saints. It does not, as we have seen, suppress them; but we should wish, if possible, to know how it contrives to work in harmony with them. The saint has renounced the joys of this world—or at least he has resolved only to use them with the greatest humility. He may have joined some community, whose members, though to all appearances vowed to the service of God, have no small share left of vanity and self-love,' and in consequence he has had a harder battle than usual to fight, in order to purify himself and to influence his brethren for good. But he has at length destroyed everything that he has been able to detect in himself, contrary to the love of God and his neighbour, and henceforward he appears as if freed from the bondage of nature which he has, as it were, completely trampled upon. He continues, however, to live, think, imagine, act, to feel pleasure and pain, to suffer and to love. What has been the effect, upon these various faculties, of this transformation of his whole being ? We have already said that the saints are not necessarily persons of weak health, destined to an early grave They are, however, subject to innumerable illnesses and they bless God for the trial. Some of these illnesses are of no psychological interest. Troubles of the stomach, and liver and lungs in their many varieties, are much the same in all men, and if sanctity counts for a good deal in the way we be...