eglect himself,
which the saint was apt to do. St. Thomas on the road called at the
castle of Magenza, the seat of his niece, Francisca of Aquino, married
to the count of Cecan. Here his distemper increased, which was attended
with a loss of appetite. One day he said, to be rid of their
importunities, that he thought he could eat a little of a certain fish
which he had formerly eaten in France, but which was not easily to be
found in Italy. Search however was made, and the fish procured; but the
saint refused to touch it, in imitation of David on the like occasion.
Soon after his appetite returned a little, and his strength with it; yet
he was assured that his last hour was at hand. This however did not
hinder him from proceeding on his journey, till, his fever increasing,
he was forced to stop at Fossa-Nuova, a famous abbey of the Cistercians,
in the diocese of Terracina, where formerly stood the city called Forum
Appii. Entering the monastery, he went first to pray before the Blessed
Sacrament, according to his custom. He poured forth his soul with
extraordinary fervor, in the presence of Him who noto called him to his
kingdom. Passing thence into the cloister, which he never lived to go
out of, he repeated these words:[11] _This is my rest for ages without
end_. He was lodged in the abbot's apartment, where he lay ill for near
a month. The good monks treated him with uncommon veneration and esteem,
and as if he had been an angel from heaven. They would not employ any of
their servants about him, but chose to serve him themselves in the
meanest offices, as in cutting or carrying wood for him to burn, &c. His
patience, humility, constant recollection, and prayer, were equally
their astonishment and edification.

The nearer he saw himself to the term of all his desires, the entering
into the joy of his Lord, the more tender and inflamed were his longings
after death. He had continually in his mouth these words of St.
Austin,[12] "Then shall I truly live, when I shall be quite filled with
you alone, and your love; {531} now I am a burden to myself, because I
am not entirely full of you." In such pious transports of heavenly love,
he never ceased sighing after the glorious day of eternity. The monks
begged he would dictate an exposition of the book of Canticles, in
imitation of St. Bernard. He answered: "Give me St. Bernard's spirit,
and I will obey." But at last, to renounce perfectly his own will, he
dictated the exposi