at he had seen, it
would be his duty to lay down his life for them.

One day he went to the Church of St. Paul, situated about a mile from
Manresa. Near the road is a stream, on the bank of which he sat, and
gazed at the deep waters flowing by. While seated there, the eyes of
his soul were opened. He did not have any special vision, but his mind
was enlightened on many subjects, spiritual and intellectual. So clear
was this knowledge that from that day everything appeared to him in a
new light. Such was the abundance of this light in his mind that all
the divine helps received, and all the knowledge acquired up to his
sixty-second year, were not equal to it.

From that day he seemed to be quite another man, and possessed of a
new intellect. This illumination lasted a long time. While kneeling in
thanksgiving for this grace, there appeared to him that object which
he had often seen before, but had never understood. It seemed to be
something most beautiful, and, as it were, gleaming with many eyes.
This is how it always appeared. There was a cross near which he was
praying, and he noticed that near the cross the vision had lost some
of its former beautiful color. He understood from this that the
apparition was the work of the devil, and whenever the vision appeared
to him after that, as it did several times, he dispelled it with his
staff.

During a violent fever at Manresa, he thought he was near his death.
The thought then came to his mind that he was already justified before
God. Calling to mind his sins, he tried to combat the thought, but
could not overcome it, and this struggle to overcome the temptation
caused him much more suffering than the fever itself. After the fever
had somewhat abated, and he was out of danger, he cried out to some
noble ladies who had come to visit him, and asked them for the love of
God, to cry out aloud the next time they should find him near death,
"O sinner!" and "Remember the sins by which you have offended God."

On another occasion, while sailing from Valencia to Italy, in the
midst of a violent storm, the rudder was broken, and he and every one
on board were convinced that the ship must founder unless help came
from above. Then, as he examined his conscience and prepared for
death, he had no dread on account of past sins, nor fear of eternal
punishment, but he experienced intense shame and sorrow at the thought
of not having made a good use of the favors and graces which God had