very moment in which Catherine concluded her prayer and came forth from her ecstasy, the two condemned gave up their last sighs. I also received Catherine's entire confidence concerning all the particulars, and I found them in every circumstance conformed to what Friar Thomas had written. He only adds that a few days after the death of the two converted brigands, the companions of Catherine heard her say, while she was praying. "Lord I thank thee for having delivered them from a second prison." Brother Thomas asked her what these words signified; she answered that the two malefactors enjoyed the glory of heaven; that they entered Purgatory, but she had obtained their deliverance.
These circumstances can scarcely fail of surprising those who read them, because they do not fall under the corporeal senses; but if we consult St. Augustine and St. Gregory, it will be seen that this miracle is greater than if those unfortunate men had been resuscitated after death; for, according to the expression of St. Gregory, a body raised to life must die again, but in this case the soul is revivified for all eternity: in the resurrection of the body, the divine power meets no obstacle; but in that of souls, the free-will of man can resist and repel the action of grace: hence the convertion of a sinner displays the divine power more gloriously, than the creation of the entire world. It is related of St. Martin, that by the virtue of the Holy Trinity, he had the glory of raising three individuals from death to life, and St. Nicholas is also admired for having saved three innocents condemned to the worst torments. What then shall be said of Catherine who, by the power of her prayers, suddenly saved two guilty souls from everlasting death, and
