heard to have had grievous conflicts 'with devils; who oftentimes appearing in a visible shape, would follow him up and down with terrible fury.
In talking of Almighty God his soul would be presently inebriated with divine sweetness, and ascending by degrees from one word to another, as, what! was God incarnated for me? was God made man for me? was God vested with human flesh for me? and the like. He would forthwith break into exclamations, and hurrying himself into his cell, would for the space of above three hours together, lose the use of his senses. One day, a brother that was newly made Priest, practising in the garden to sing mass, when he heard him sing these words of St. John's gospel, (Et verbum caro factum est,) he became enraptured, and remained for a long time in ecstacy.
This, therefore, was ordinary to the friend of God, that when he heard any thing of the humanity of our blessed Saviour, or any devout word of the holy Scripture, it would cause him raptures. Neither could he help them, though he did strive much against them, especially in the presence of others, but his heart would become like melting wax in the midst of his bowels. He was often, in seeing the crucifix, moved with such compassion, that his arms
