CONTENTS.

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Decree of the Sacred Congregation Of Rites ix.

CHAPTER I.

ANNA MARIA'S EARLY YOUTH — HER MARRIAGE.

Character of her parents ; they remove from Siena to Rome. She receives a good Christian education. In her thirteenth year is sent into a workshop. Returns home at nineteen ; her motives for desiring this change. Her love of dress and amusement. Enters service in the same house with her parents. Her refinement of speech and manners ; consequent dangers and temptations. Her conscience roused. She is advised to enter the married state ; her mode of viewing the matter. Domenico Taigi ; his disposition and manners. His account of the engagement, page 1

CHAPTER II.

ANNA MARIA'S FIRST YEAR OF MARRIED LIFE — HER CONVERSION.

Renewed indulgence of vanity. Anna Maria's dissatisfaction with herself. P. Angelo receives a divine intimation respecting her. Her increased uneasiness of mind. Discouraging conduct of a priest; its probable explanation. The danger of such rebuffs. Anna Maria is led to disclose the secrets of her soul to P. Angelo, page 13

CHAPTER III.

ANNA MARIA'S LIFE OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND MORTIFICATION.

The self-sacrifice of the perfect contrasted with that of ordinary Christians. Character of Anna Maria's conversion. Her zeal against herself restrained hy P. Angelo. Her fervour shown to he pleasing to God. She is called to he a victim of expiation. She lays aside her ornaments and puts on common clothing. Importance of fidelity to our particular grace. Her frequent fasts. Her ingenuity in avoiding observation. Mortification of the palate. Refusal to satisfy thirst. Restraint of the eyes and tongue. Denial of sleep. Her interior mortifications. Her victories over self. The arduous nature of such conflicts. Her repression of natural sympathies. Her self-mortification in spiritual things., page 21

CHAPTER IV.

ANNA MARIA'S BEHAVIOUR AS A WIFE.

Her peculiar mission. Enthusiastic language of P. Bouffier. Gifts gratis data not in themselves meritorious. Singular interest of Domenico's testimony. Sanctity tends to simplicity. Anna Maria's patience and exquisite tact. Her cheerful obedience to her husband ; and genuine reverence for him. Respect the guardian of love. Touching example of Domenico's appreciation of his wife's excellence. His own commendable qualities, page 39

CHAPTER V.

ANNA MARIA'S BEHAVIOUR AS A MOTHER.

Her seven children. Her assiduity in teaching them their Christian duties. Her care to provide them with suitable employments. Her watchful guardianship of their modesty and virtue. Our Lord's promise in their regard. Her solicitude with respect to their marriage and settlement in life. Her vigilance in excluding all injurious conversation. Her veneration for the priesthood. Her truthfulness. Her house a kind of sanctuary. Devotional practices of the family. Sanctification of holidays. Innocent diversions. Anna Maria's sweet and joyous cheerfulness. Her delight in speaking of holy things, page 53

CHAPTER VI.

ANNA MARIA AS MISTRESS OF A FAMILY.

Poverty of the family. Her strict frugality. Her industry and exactness. Kindness to her servants. Punctuality in paying debts. Courage and energy in times of need. Freedom from hustle and eagerness. Unrelaxing industry. Filial piety; and discretion in maintaining domestic harmony. Necessary imperfection of this sketch of her virtues., page 69

CHAPTER VII.

ANNA MARIA'S HEROIC FAITH ; AND HER DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED TRINITY.

Faith habitual and actual. Its powerful effects ; its inactivity in many Christians. The energy of Anna Maria's faith; Cardinal Pedicini's testimony thereto. Her detestation of heresy, and grief at blasphemies against God and His truth. Her unaffected piety in conversation. Profound veneration for the sacraments. Zeal in observing the precepts of the Church, and high esteem of sacramentals. Unquestioning obedience to her confessor. Ardent love of the Church, and devotion to the Holy See. Her vivid spiritual perceptions. Special cultus of the Blessed Trinity characteristic of a high perfection. Anna Maria's reception into the Third Order of the Trinitarians. Her first sight of the mysterious sun. Her punctual observance of the exercises of the association, page 83

CHAPTER VIII.

ANNA MARIA'S SUBLIME HOPE AND CONFIDENCE IN GOD.

Hope distinguished from faith. Its acts and objects. Anna Maria's hope in God the counterpart of her self-distrust. Her aversion to timidity and despondency. Her undoubting trust visibly recompensed by God. Confidence in divine aid and the intercession of the saints. Persevering prayer, united with active labour. Refusal to accept relief for herself or family ; the motives of this. Domenico's conduct in the matter. Deposition of her daughter Sofia. Her relations with the Queen of Etruria. Exceptions to her rule of declining alms. Her son Camillo drawn for the conscription. Her persistence in practising mortification. Instances of her exhorting others to like trust in Providence. Her holy familiarity with God, page 103

CHAPTER IX.

ANNA MARIA'S HEROIC CHARITY TOWARDS GOD AND TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR.

The excellence of charity ; its object and motive. Anna Maria's ardent love of God. Its evidences. Her wonderful ecstasies. How misconceived and misjudged ; even by her own family. Her holy sobriety ; and undisturbed peace of mind. Her labours for the poor. Her works of mercy. Solicitude for conversion of criminals. Charity to the sick. Special gift of consolation. Continual intercessory prayer. Her sympathy and compassion. Her grace of listening. Kindness to animals. Testimony of her confessor, page 127

CHAPTER X.

ANNA MARIA A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL THE VIRTUES.

Difficulty of selecting her characteristic virtues. She may be called a compendium of all. Patience the school of perfection. Anna Maria the object of calumny. Instances of her forgiving charity and meekness. Her mastery over her natural disposition. Silence under insult. Her complicated maladies. Serenity and cheerfulness in suffering. Her profound humility. Dread of human praise and distinction. Self- withdrawal and respectfulness to others. Avoidance of all self-excuses. Concealment of spiritual gifts. Her frank sincerity, page 152

CHAPTER XI.

ANNA MARIA'S DEVOTION TO THE MYSTERIES OF THE INFANCY AND PASSION, AND TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.

Bethlehem and Calvary her two abodes. Her devout visits to churches. Her love and compassion for her enemies. Tender devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Precious Blood. She becomes a daily communicant. Her fervours and raptures at Communion. Instance of her perfect unconsciousness. These raptures almost habitual; their effects on others. Her gift of discerning the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Miraculous manifestations, page 174

CHAPTER XII.

ANNA MARIA'S DEVOTION TO THE 3IOTHER OF GOD, AND TO THE SAINTS AND ANGELS — HER CHARITY TO THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY.

Love for Mary correlative with love for Jesus. Mary the mother of souls. Anna Maria's filial confidence in her. The Blessed Virgin dictates to her a prayer. The Madonna of Fra Petronio. Vision of our Lady as Mediatrix of Intercession. Saints to whom Anna Maria had a special devotion. Her colloquies with her guardian angel. Her tender solicitude for souls in Purgatory. Their relief a part of her mission, page 183

CHAPTER XIII.

ANNA MARIA A VICTIM OF EXPIATION.

The weapons of the Church, not carnal, but spiritual. Chosen souls the victims of divine justice. Her special mission revealed to Anna Maria. Her generous acceptance of it. Refusal of spiritual consolations a question of vocation. Her interior desolation. Exterior trials. Bodily ailments. Infernal assaults. Distressing conferences with hardened sinners. Conversion of a Carbonaro. Diabolical temptations and apparitions. Extraordinary divine locution. Her peculiar conformity with the sufferings of our Lord. His testimony thereto, page 195

CHAPTER XIV.

ANNA MARIA'S VISION OF THE MYSTERIOUS SUN.

Scepticism of the age. Anna Maria a witness to the supernatural. Her special Apostleship. Divine origin of her extraordinary gift. Description of the mysterious sun. Symbolic interpretation thereof. Her gift compared with those of St. Frances of Rome and St. Hildegarde. Her mission contrasted with that of St. Catherine of Siena. The gift permanent; not habitual; nor uninterrupted in its exercise, page 219

CHAPTER XV.

WHAT ANNA MARIA SAW IN THE MYSTERIOUS SUN ; AND HOW SHE DISCERNED THE INTERIOR STATE OF SOULS.

The different figures and symbols w\ich»she beheld. The whole world displayed before her. She gives counsel and instruction to bishops and others. Her theological science and knowledge of divine mysteries. Her solicitude for her spiritual sons. Her fear of being influenced by mere natural tenderness ; colloquy with our Lord. Discernment of the state of consciences. Remarkable instances of this power. Her insight into the interior of souls. Knowledge of secret thoughts and intentions. Examples, page 238

CHAPTER XVI.

ANNA MARIA'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF THE DEAD, AND OF THE APPROACH OF DEATH.

The eternal state of souls manifested to her. Hardness to the poor, how displeasing to God. Faults that she Saw punished in Purgatory. Visions of souls going straight to glory. Her knowledge of the death and salvation of Alexander I. of Russia. Prescience of the deaths of Popes and others : the Duchess of Lucca ; Lady Clifford ; Cardinal Weld ; &c. Death of one who had treated her with contempt, page 258

CHAPTER XVII.

ANNA MARIA'S KNOWLEDGE OF THINGS IN THE NATURAL ORDER AND OF FUTURE EVENTS.

She sees into the bed of Lake Nemi ; foretells the burning of St. Paul's Basilica. Her interest in great and small things alike. Insight into the disorders of the sick. Knowledge of the natural properties of things. Her conduct respecting lottery-tickets. Announcement of coming perils. Acquaintance with distant and future things. Remarkable instance in the case of Mgr. Strambi. She is conscious of intimations from a distance. Testimony of Princess Vittoria Barberini to her supernatural powers, page 281

CHAPTER XVIII.

ANNA MARIA'S KNOWLEDGE OF EVENTS, POLITICAL, ECCLESIASTICAL, AND RELIGIOUS.

Her visions of battles, revolutions, &c. Intimate acquaintance with the political state of the world. Interview with an eminent diplomatist. Knowledge of plots and conspiracies. Machinations of the wicked defeated by her prayers and penances. Her sufferings necessary for divers ends. She beholds the impending persecutions of the Church. Foretells the elevation of Cardinal Cappellari to the Papal chair, page 298

CHAPTER XIX.

PROPHECIES CONCERNING PIUS IX. AND HIS REIGN.

Anna Maria's description of Pius IX. Her prediction of three days darkness. Question as to its physical nature. The Holy Father's expectation of some sudden and terrible judgment. His allusion to another prophecy of the Servant of God. The judgment probably not far distant. Anna Maria's prophecy of the length of the Pope's reign. Question as to his beholding the promised triumph of the Church. That triumph connected with the restoration of France. The error of fixing dates for the fulfilment of predictions, page 310

CHAPTER XX.

ANNA MARIA'S GIFT OF HEALING.

How this gift was communicated to her. She heals several cases of cancer; and other diseases. Cardinal Barberini restored to health by her prayers ; the Queen of Etruria by her touch. Cure of her granddaughter ; and of Domenico. Blindness of the latter to his wife's supernatural gift., page 329

CHAPTER XXI.

ANNA MARIA'S CLOSING DAYS AND DEATH.

Renewal of the inner man while the outer man decays. Anna Maria's perfect correspondence with divine grace. Reverence shown her by the poor. Her longing for retirement and obscurity. Our Lord reveals to her her approaching end. Her admirable patience and desire of sufferings. She is favoured with an unusual dispensation from the Pope. Her exhausting maladies : aggravated by the doctors. The day of her death is revealed to her. Her farewell admonitions to her family. Conduct of a creditor. She receives the Viaticum and Extreme Unction. Is left to die unattended : how this came about. Her last moments. Letters of Cardinal Pedicini and P. Filippo Luigi di San Nicola. Remarks by the latter on the Servant of God, page 338

CHAPTER XXII.

ANNA MARIA'S INTERMENT AND RE-INTERMENTS.

Panic caused by the cholera the occasion of her death being little known. Her body removed to the parish church; and thence to the Cemetery of San Lorenzo. Securities for identification. Popular eagerness to learn all details respecting her. Her house and tomb become the objects of pious resort. Testimonies to her sanctity from Cardinal Pedicini and other cardinals and prelates. Her reported appearance after death tested by the V. Vincenzo Pallotti. Don Raffaele Natali commissioned to collect documents relating to her. Mgr. Luqntt's Life of the Servant of God. Recognition of the body after eighteen years' interment. Strictness of the precautions taken. The body is transported to Santa Maria della Pace. And again, ten years later, to San Crisogono in Trastevere. Re-examination in 1868. P. Calixte's interview with Mgr. Natftli. Anna Maria's bust. Notice of Mgr. Natali's death, page 363

CHAPTER XXIII.

MIRACLES ATTESTING THE SANCTITY OF THE SERVANT OF GOD.

Miraculous intervention a subject of interest to Catholics. Poverty of Anna Maria's family relieved in a singular manner. Instances of cures and special graces received through her intercession. A remarkable case in the island of Malta. Other instances. Declaration of our Lord to His servant that it was His will to make her known to the world as an example of penance and a model of married women. Her threatenings of judgment matter of serious reflection, page 386

APPENDIX.

FRAGMENTS OF ANNA MARIA'S PREDICTIONS — HER PROPHECIES COMPARED WITH THOSE OF OTHER GIFTED SOULS.

D. Raffaele Natali reserved in his disclosures. Fragments collected by P. Calixte. Contribution from the Abbe Curicque. similar announcements of Elisabetta Canori Mora. Question as to the literal or figurative interpretation of certain prophetic visions. Predictions of the widow Palma. The Abbe Brandt's report of his interview with her. Dr. Imbert Gourbeyre's account of a conversation with her. Predictions of Sister Rosa Colomba. The connection of the peace of France with that of the Church. Prophecy of St. Cesarius. Traditionary beliefs prevailing in the East. Remarkable words of the Comte de Maistre. A great triumph of the Church foretold by St. Catherine of Siena ; St. Hildegarde ; V. (rrignon de Montfort ; Marie Lataste. The V. Barthelemi Holzhauser's commentary on the Apocalypse. The great Pope and powerful Monarch. Prophecies of Scaur de la Nativite. Extract from the Civilta Cattolica., page 395