Founder of Monasticism 15
Norcia in the Sabines—A Matrona—The Twins, Benedict and Scholastica—Benedict Goes to Rome—Conversion of Placidus—Benedict’s Retirement to La Mentorella—Life in a Cave—Temptations—Visit of St. Francis—Benedict’s Ministering—Real Founder of Monastic Life—Growth of His Order—Placidus and Maurus—St. Benedict’s Personality and Conversions—His Ideal of the Religious Life—His Greatest Miracles—His Sister, Scholastica—The Last Day Together—His Ascension.
St. Gregory the Great 37
Birth and Lineage of St. Gregory—Path from the World to the Cloister—Prayer, Study, and Charity—His Cat—A Prophecy—A Cardinal Deacon—Mission to Constantinople—Eutyches’ Heresy—Rome in Pestilence—Gregory Elected Pope—His Unbelievable Accomplishments—His Life as Pope—Championship of the Oppressed—Bond with English-speaking People—The Great Procession During the Pestilence—Gregory’s Successors.
Memories of the Pantheon 52
The Pantheon—Hadrian’s Best Monument—Long Idle—Consecrated as St. Mary of the Martyrs—The Cathedral, the Symbol of the Soul—Its Purification—Continuity of the Church—A Priest’s Visit—The Alabaster Square—Procession of the Martyrs’ Relics—Giovanni Borgi, the Workman—Italian Guilds—Giovanni’s Selflessness—His Rescue of the Forsaken Children—Care of Them—Crusade in Behalf of All the Waifs of Rome—His Work of Love—Giovanni’s Successor, Later Pius IX.
Early Life of Father Mastai 70