1
There was in Padre Filippo’s time a cardinal who was Prefect of the provisions,[1] who let everything go wrong and attended to nothing, and the poor were all suffering because provisions got so dear.
Padre Filippo went to the Pope—Papa Medici[2] it was—and told him how badly off the poor were; so the Pope called the Cardinal to account, and went on making him attend to it till Padre Filippo told him that things were on a better footing.
But the Cardinal came to Padre Filippo and said:
‘Why do you vex me by going and making mischief to the Pope?’
But Padre Filippo, instead of being frightened at his anger, rose up and said:
‘Come here and I will show you what is the fate of those who oppress and neglect the poor. Come here Eminentissimo, and look,’ and he took him to the window and asked him what he saw.
The Cardinal looked, and he saw a great fire of Hell, and the souls writhing in it. The Cardinal said no more and went away, but not long after he gave up being a cardinal and became a simple brother under Padre Filippo.
[Who this cardinal may have been I do not know, but the story was told me another time in this form:—]