charitable deeds — such favors are not to be lightly esteemed; they give the soul a certainty of salvation, and an inexpressible joy and comfort. The surety of possessing Heaven excites her to the practice of every virtue; it augments patience, fortitude, temperance, zeal for pious works, with the theological virtues Faith, Hope and Charity. What appeared difficult becomes easy, the soul "can do all things" for the love of Him who discloses to her, a predestination to glory and fortifies her continually. We have already had striking proofs in the relations just given: the proofs are about to become more numerous and more striking.
At another time, Catherine, always inflamed with the fire of compassion, learned that a poor person, who had voluntarily divested himself of his wealth, for the love of God, was on the point of dying with hunger; she desired again "to feed" Jesus Christ in his poor, and filled with eggs "a linen sack which she had sewed under her dress. When approaching the residence of the poor person, she paid a visit to a church; as soon as her soul found itself in the house of prayer it rose towards Him, to whom it was continually united; she fell into an ecstasy, losing the use of her senses: her body sunk down precisely on the side which bore the sack filled with eggs, and weighed on it so heavily, as to crush a large thimble of metal that was in the same pocket, into three pieces, while the eggs, which charity had deposited therein, suffered no injury; they bore the weight of Catherine during several hours, without their shells being in the least impaired.
Catherine's charity also glorified God by miracles. The following wonderful fact which was witnessed by about twenty persons; I heard from her mother, Lapa
