ould be very much swollen at
night, though he rode all day on horseback. For this reason, he felt
he ought to wear a shoe on that foot. He provided himself also with a
pilgrim's staff and a gourd to drink from. All these he tied to his
saddle.

Thus equipped, he continued on his way to Montserrat, pondering in his
mind, as was his wont, on the great things he would do for the love of
God. And as he had formerly read the stories of Amadeus of Gaul and
other such writers, who told how the Christian knights of the past
were accustomed to spend the entire night, preceding the day on which
they were to receive knighthood, on guard before an altar of the
Blessed Virgin, he was filled with these chivalric fancies, and
resolved to prepare himself for a noble knighthood by passing a night
in vigil before an altar of Our Lady at Montserrat. He would observe
all the formalities of this ceremony, neither sitting nor lying down,
but alternately standing and kneeling, and there he would lay aside
his worldly dignities to assume the arms of Christ.

When he arrived at Montserrat, he passed a long time in prayer, and
with the consent of his confessor he made in writing a general
confession of his sins. Three whole days were employed in this
undertaking. He begged and obtained leave of his confessor to give up
his horse, and to hang up his sword and his dagger in the church, near
the altar of the Blessed Virgin. This confessor was the first to whom
he unfolded his interior, and disclosed his resolution of devoting
himself to a spiritual life. Never before had he manifested his
purpose to anybody.

The eve of the Annunciation of Our Blessed Lady in the year 1522 was
the time he chose to carry out the project he had formed. At
nightfall, unobserved by any one, he approached a beggar, and taking
off his own costly garments gave them to the beggar. He then put on
the pilgrim's dress he had previously bought, and hastened to the
church, where he threw himself on his knees before the altar of the
Blessed Mother of God, and there, now kneeling, now standing, with
staff in hand, he passed the entire night.

After receiving the Blessed Sacrament, to avoid recognition he left
the town at daybreak. He did not go by the direct route that leads to
Barcelona, as he might have met those who knew him and would honor
him, but he took a byway that led him to a town called Manresa. Here
he determined to remain a few days in the hospital and write out