Chapter X

FALSE MIRACLES, RELICS, AND RELIGIOUS IMPOSITIONS--Veneration of crucifixes and statues or images--Their power of healing--Picture at Cadiz--_Lignum Crucis_--Veronica--Bodies of saints--How procured--Inscriptions--Lives of saints--Maria de Agreda--St Francis--Scandalous representation of the appearance of the Virgin to a saint--Fray Diego de Cadiz--_Beata_ Clara--Her fame and downfall--The nun, Sister Patrocinio--Her success, detection, confession, and expulsion--She returns, and is protected by a high personage--She is again expelled, but again returns and founds a convent--Its disgraceful character and suppression--Her flight towards Rome--Occurrences on the road--Her return to Spain.

It is easy to conceive the abuse that may be made by the clergy of the credulity of a nation in which such ridiculous and absurd practices prevail as those to which we have already alluded. The priest is considered, in Roman Catholic countries, as the representative of Jesus Christ, the only depositary of true doctrine, the only dispenser of celestial favours, the agent of the supreme authority of the Pope,--in a word, the infallible oracle, to whose teachings the faith cannot be opposed, and whose mandates must not be resisted under penalty of incurring a mortal sin. Thus all his words carry the stamp of irresistible power. The Spanish clergy have always known the resources they could draw from this position, and they have abused it in order to establish numberless false miracles, which, at the same time that they add to their prestige, greatly augment their treasure. There is scarcely a cure of an infirmity which human flesh is heir to, that is not attributed to some prodigy from heaven. There is scarcely a town in Spain in which they do not venerate a crucifix which has perspired, or a virgin's statue which has moved its eyes. In some places they pretend to believe that bells are rung without being touched; in others, roses grow, out of their proper season, to serve the festivals of the church. At the time of the expedition of the Earl of Essex to Cadiz, the English took their swords and cut asunder a certain painting of a religious subject in one of the churches, whereupon the edges of the cut canvas began to bleed, and the blood remains there to this day, and may be seen by the curious in one of the parish churches of that city! They relate numerous cases in which the host when profaned has, when broken, sent forth blood. If a sacristan omits to light the lamp which burns at night before the eucharist, the lamp lights itself. There are innumerable persons in Spain who believe that he who is born on Good-Friday has a cross on the roof of his mouth, and the faculty of curing diseases by mere contact with his hands, or even a piece of his garment. The palms which are blessed on Palm-Sunday, and the candles burnt on Good-Friday before the sacrament, have power to preserve houses from thunderbolts. The same faculty is attributed to a small bell blessed by the priest. In times of drought, which are the greatest calamities that afflict the Spanish soil, a favourite image is taken out and conducted in procession, in order to implore genial showers of rain. Thanks to the invention of the barometer, and a practical knowledge of the aspect of the weather, it almost always happens that this ceremony is followed a few days afterwards by a copious supply. But it would require an entire volume to enumerate all the errors and superstitions of this description which have been propagated by the clergy in Spain, and which form the chief props of their power.

Relics have served as efficacious instruments to accomplish that end. The _lignum crucis_, pieces of the cross on which the Saviour suffered, are profusely distributed not only in the churches, but in the private houses of many persons. In most of the cathedrals are preserved and shown to the public, on certain occasions, some of the thorns which composed our Saviour's crown; in others, fragments of the Virgin's veil; and in the cathedral of Jaen, _the face of God_. A description of this last-named wonder may not be unacceptable to some of our readers, and therefore we give a description of it in the words of a living English writer:--"According to the tradition of the Romish Church, a lady called Veronica met our Saviour in the street of Amargura, in Jerusalem, bearing his cross, on the way to Mount Calvary; and perceiving the perspiration running down his face, she offered the use of her handkerchief, which our Lord is said to have used, or to have permitted Veronica to use, in wiping the sweat from his temples. In performing this operation, the handkerchief happened to be folded into double, treble, or quadruple, and it was found that an exact impress of the Saviour's visage was indelibly stamped on every fold! These portraits, they say, have been preserved, and are certainly venerated as sacred relics in different places. One is exhibited in Rome, another in Padua, and a third in Jaen, in Andalusia. A public exhibition of this _holy face_ is permitted, annually, on a certain day appointed for the purpose, when a plenary indulgence is granted to all who go to look upon it, to confess and to receive the holy communion. It is only the most ignorant and superstitious who are found to believe in this fable; indeed, it has now become proverbial with a Spaniard, when told of any thing that seems impossible, to say, _Eso y la cara de Dios estan en Jaen_,--That and the face of God are in Jaen."

The bodies of saints exposed to public veneration in many churches are almost innumerable. The authenticity of these holy remains is founded on pontifical bulls invested with all necessary formalities. The way of procuring these remains of corrupt mortality is very easy and simple. It consists in gathering up, in the catacombs of Rome, some of the infinite numbers of bones there deposited; there is never wanting some devout antiquarian to discover that they are those of a saint or a martyr, and the assertion is supported by old parchments of remote ages, made in Rome, where the profession is of great use. Those testimonies are presented to the Roman Datary, and by means of a fixed sum found in a tariff comprising many other articles, the pontifical sanction is obtained, and then the bones become converted into objects of general devotion.

The inscriptions on Roman altars and sepulchres in the pagan ages are used to support those inventions. All the world knows the history of the celebrated saints Perpetua and Felicity, whose beatifications have no other foundation than the words _perpetua felicitas_, so very common on the monuments of that nation. The improbability of some of the fictions has been such, that in Spain itself, in the face of that respect there shown to the things pertaining to religion, there have not been wanting pious men who have dared to doubt the authenticity of some of those saints. In a certain city in Andalusia, in which are venerated the bones of two Christian soldiers who were martyrs, and are the declared patrons of that city, and as such to be worthy the devotion of the inhabitants, it has been proved recently, from the examination of certain documents, that those supposed martyrs were nothing more than two Roman soldiers who had fallen in an action near the walls of that city.

But the lives of the saints are the great repositories of false miracles. There is no extravagance which has not been resorted to by the authors of those biographies. The miracles of their heroes occupy more space than do their virtues. The Roman Church never canonises any human being, of whatever eminence his piety may have been, if it is not proved _to its satisfaction_ that he had the power of altering the laws of nature, and availed himself of divine omnipotence in order to serve his friends, and even to satisfy their caprice. For example: one saint has been able to traverse the seas with no better vessel for his use than his own cloak; another used to bring down rain from heaven in times of drought; almost all of them cured the most dangerous maladies by merely their blessing; and there are but few of them who have not even raised the dead with the like facility. The famous _beata_ Maria de Agreda has written many volumes, wherein she records the continuous revelations with which she was favoured, and her familiar conversations with the Saviour, to whom she always gives the title of spouse. On one occasion, when sweeping the cloisters of her convent, she being unable through debility to take up the dust, the infant Jesus came to perform that office for her. In the work entitled, "_Conformidad de San Francisco con Dios_," it is said, among other wonders, that the saint formed a statue of ice and breathed life into it, in the same way that God did to Adam. That saint had his hands and feet perforated like those of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the Roman church consecrates a day in the calendar and a special festival with its corresponding service to "the wounds or sores of St Francis" (_Las Llagas de San Francisco_).

But all these extravagances of the imagination are exceeded by the impiety and scandal of the appearance of the Virgin to a saint who implored her favour. It is related of her, that on this occasion she sent forth from her bosom a stream of milk, which the saint received in his open mouth, in a kneeling position, at a few paces from her feet. Paintings of this may be seen in the cloisters of many convents in Spain.

Hypocrisy, interest, and ambition, have found in this frightful credulity an ample and open field for their labours, and in which they have gathered abundant crops. It would, however, be an act of injustice, of which we would desire not to be guilty, if we did not admit that some of the most heroic virtues have flourished in the cloisters, and that the annals of the religious orders have handed down to posterity names which are worthy of admiration and respect. The name of the Capuchine Fray Diego de Cadiz must be still fresh in the memory,--a man no less remarkable for his poverty, self-denial, and humility, than for the sublime eloquence with which he contended against the vices of his times, and drew sinners into the paths of virtue. Such was the reputation of this good man, that the churches were unable to hold the multitudes who came to hear him preach. He therefore usually delivered his sermons in the public squares, where he was eagerly and devoutly listened to by people of every class and denomination, including Protestant reformers, who came to hear his denunciations against the enemies of God and the church. But by the side of this and some other models of religious consistency, how many hypocrites are there who have abused the simplicity of Spaniards, ostentatiously displaying, in public, self-denial and penitence, whilst giving themselves up, in private life, to every kind of iniquity! A convent lucky in having a man of this class possessed in him an inexhaustible fountain of presents and money. Sometimes those excesses arrive at such a point, that the attention of the bishops is called to them; but when searching inquiries were set on foot, the friars with all haste removed the delinquent to some distant place where he would be out of the reach of the bishops. Two facts of this kind may serve to illustrate this chapter.

Towards the beginning of the present century, there was in Madrid a _beata_ {194} called Clara, of whom they relate such prodigies as filled the capital from one end to the other with astonishment, and induced society to believe that this _beata_, Clara, was a being highly favoured by Providence. She lived in a private house, under the pretence that the malady under which she laboured prevented her residence in the _beaterio_. She was always prostrated on her bed, and never took any kind of food except the consecrated host. The nobility and persons in the upper ranks of society, including canons, bishops, and other learned personages, came to consult her, not only on matters of conscience, but of ecclesiastical discipline and state-government. She never permitted her face to be seen, but kept it covered with a kind of veil which entirely concealed her features. Gifts of every kind were showered upon her, and when money was given to her, which was always in large amounts, she declared that the article was of but little use to her, for she always gave it away to the poor. In short, nothing was talked of in Madrid but this most wonderful woman, whose presence it was believed was sufficient to obtain blessings from heaven; and even the queen, Maria Louisa, herself, wife of Charles IV., sent her frequent messages. Clara's fame increased. The renown of her name reached Rome, and made a profound impression in that city. The Pope granted her the unheard-of privilege of having the holy eucharist kept in her room, a privilege never conceded but to churches, cathedrals, and convents. In her room was erected an altar on which the priests said mass. There the holy communion was received with outbursts of devotion, and sometimes with ecstasy. In short, the woman was considered as something more than mortal; nor can that be surprising, when it was believed, on her own assertions, that she existed without other sustenance than the body and blood of Christ.

There was in the same quarter of the city a pastrycook called Ceferino. It had been observed that this shop was the nightly resort of a female attendant of Clara, who made purchases of the most delicate and savoury articles of this good man's manufacture, nor could he imagine from whom she came or where she went, for instead of going into the vicinity with the precious load, she invariably made off in a direction for the heart of the city, and was soon out of sight. One night, however, one of Ceferino's workmen was determined to follow her closely. He did so, and after many an artful dodge through streets, lanes, courts, and alleys, she entered the house of _beata_ Clara. The fact was kept secret from the public, but information was given privately to the police, who late at night entered the suspected dwelling, and there surprised Clara and her confessor, who were both elegantly dressed, and sitting at a table profusely served up with viands and wines of the most _recherche_ descriptions. The inquisition at once seized their persons, and proceeded to try them for their crimes. The confessor, who was a young robust Franciscan friar, was condemned to perpetual imprisonment in one of the most severe convents of the order. The _beata_ Clara was paraded through the streets of Madrid, _honeyed and feathered_, and mounted on a jack-ass, and then sent to be imprisoned in a house of penance for the remainder of her life.

The other fact which we have alluded to and promised some account of to our readers, dates in more modern times; indeed, all the actors in that far-famed farce are still living.

Under the regency of Espartero, it was currently reported in Madrid, that in a certain convent of that city there existed one of the order whose name was Sister Patrocinio (_Sor Patrocinio_), and who, like St Francis before alluded to, had in her hands and feet the _stigmata_ or open sores which correspond with those of our Saviour, made by the nails and spear in his crucifixion. This rumour, and many acts of the nun, produced an extraordinary sensation in Madrid, and especially when it began to be believed there was some political legerdemain connected with the prodigy, for the confessor of this woman, who now occupies one of the episcopal chairs of Spain, and gave his testimony to the case, seemed to be upon very intimate terms with the royal family, and had very lengthened conversations with some of its members. As at that time the political world was agitated by the question of the political pretensions of Don Carlos to the throne of Spain, the government, which held, or at least professed liberal opinions, thought that possibly the case of this miraculous woman might have some connection with the absolute views of the clergy, particularly as the miracle was everywhere spoken of. Thirsting, therefore, to prove the truth of the alleged fact, which was that the sores or wounds of this Saint Patrocinio were open and bleeding in the same way as if they had been the results of nails lately driven into her feet and hands and a spear thrust into her side, the government ordered the lady to be examined by the most celebrated medical man of the day, who instantly discovered that the wounds or sores were produced by the mere application of lunar caustic. He applied to them the usual remedies. Patrocinio was watched day and night to prevent a re-application of the caustic, and the openings were soon healed.

On this discovery of the truth, the nun was banished to a convent in one of the provinces; but a few years afterwards so many and such clever intrigues were employed, and by such high personages, in her favour, that she obtained permission to return to the capital, where in her convent she became the point of attraction and assembly of all that portion of the clergy most opposed to the constitutional system, and where she received the constant visits of one of the most exalted personages of the kingdom. She no longer, however, had recourse to the open sores to deceive the people, whose eyes have been opened in the way already described. The extraordinary beauty with which nature had endowed her person was the means of which she availed herself to enslave the will of her august protector. The government of General Narvaez, which was then in power, thought it expedient to put an end to these scandalous scenes; and the more especially as it was impossible not to see that their influence was brought directly to bear on the gravest political questions. Thus was that woman a second time expelled the capital; but a second time was she permitted to return to it on the fall of Narvaez's cabinet. Vain beyond all measure with her triumph, she abused this new era of the victory she had obtained, and founded a convent in that city, of which she declared herself the superior, and into which no other nuns were admitted than such as were both young and pretty. This establishment was the resort and rallying-point of the most elevated of the clergy and nobility; and to the scandal of the nation, the high personage already so often alluded to there passed his evenings with his courtezans, giving rise to the free circulation, and without any disguise, of anecdotes of the most immoral and yet ludicrous description. But such unbridled turpitude could not last long without provoking the activity of the civil authority. The convent was suddenly suppressed, and Sister Patrocinio was put on the road to Rome, accompanied by her favourite novice and two of the clergy. The extreme slowness with which she proceeded on her journey was attributed to a certain delicate state of health, the gravity of which had become so urgent, that on reaching a town in the south of France she was obliged to suspend her march, and having been detained there for some months until the expiration of the time necessary for cure and convalescence after such infirmities, which was in short the sole object of her journey, instead of pursuing her tour to the capital of the Roman Catholic world, she was permitted a third time to return to Spain, where she now lives in obscurity and contempt.

Since the foregoing was written, the following account of her own confession has appeared before the public, and may very properly conclude this chapter:--

"But we have one word more yet to say on the subject of these wounds,
to convince our readers of the ridiculous farce that was enacted at
the convent. The medical men were not singular in denying their
supernatural origin. The _saint_ herself, when she found she was in
the power of justice, and out of the hands of nuns and friars, made
the following most curious and decisive statement. Our readers will
imagine that they are perusing a romance of the middle ages.

"'On the 7th of February, the further declaration of Sister
Patrocinio was taken, who, after having made an avowal of _being
truly penitent_, and that she cast herself upon the mercy of her
Majesty the Queen Protectress, declared that from the time of her
taking the veil, down to the 7th July when the convents were
suppressed, her confessor was friar Benito Carrera.--That she
afterwards had for confessor the vicar of the convent; for although
friar Joseph de la Cruz wished to be her confessor, and spoke to her
once or twice to that effect, she did not consent, because from the
first she knew that he was not of very strong understanding, for he
had proposed to her to leave the convent, in order to go to Rome, and
ask permission to found and establish a convent, with many other
extravagant propositions; showing her at the same time a very rare
print, which contained many allegorical devices.--That no doubt her
confessor, friar Benito Carrera, knew what were the ideas of friar
Joseph de la Cruz; and he had told the abbess that she ought not to
permit declarant to go to confess to him; and for that reason she did
not see him again.--That one of the nuns being taken ill during her
(declarant's) noviciate, Father Alcaraz, a capuchin of the padro,
came to attend her; and then she saw him, and had a conversation with
him upon different matters.--That a few days afterwards, she was
called into the visitor's parlour, and found that said father Alcaraz
was there alone; that he addressed her in a solemn tone, as if he was
preaching, and said that St Paul was very urgent on the subject of
penance; {200} and then he took out a little purse which he carried
in his hood, and told her that it contained _a small relic that would
produce a wound if applied to any part of the body_; that this wound
ought to be kept open, so as to occasion suffering and mortification,
that so, by offering to God our pain by way of penance, we might
obtain pardon for sins already committed or future.--That after this
he gave her a most solemn injunction, commanding her to apply the
relic to the palms and the back of her hands, to the soles of her
feet, to the left side, and _all round her head in the manner of a
crown_; and charged her most strictly upon her obedience, and upon
peril of the most terrible punishments in the next world, _not to
disclose to anybody how the wounds had been caused_; and if she was
asked, she must say that _she had found them upon her
supernaturally_.--That being terrified by the threats of eternal
punishment and the divine anger, she obeyed his command, and never
disclosed the matter either to the abbess or to her confessor, or to
any other person whatever.--That it was believed by the community in
all good faith, that it was a miracle; that she never attempted to
apply ordinary medicines for the healing of the wounds, which, though
they closed apparently, broke out again, always being attended with
pain, until she _left the convent and had them cured_."