But His Distinguishing Feature, His "Dominating Gift," Was That Of
Prophecy, Especially In Foretelling The Deaths Of Children, "Which He
Almost Always Accompanied With Jocular Words (Scherzi) On His Lips."
He Would Enter A House And Genially Remark:
"O, what an odour of
Paradise "; sooner or later one or more of the children of the family
would perish.
To a boy of twelve he said, "Be good, Natale, for the
angels are coming to take you." These playful words seem to have weighed
considerably on the boy's mind and, sure enough, after a few years he
died. But even more charming - piu grazioso, the biographer calls
it - was the incident when he once asked a father whether he would give
his son to Saint Pasquale. The fond parent agreed, thinking that the
words referred to the boy's future career in the Church. But the saint
meant something quite different - he meant a career in heaven! And in
less than a month the child died. To a little girl who was crying in the
street he said: "I don't want to hear you any more. Go and sing in
Paradise." And meeting her a short time after, he said, "What, are you
still here?" In a few days she was dead.
The biography gives many instances of this pretty gift which would
hardly have contributed to the saint's popularity in England or any
other country save this, where - although the surviving youngsters are
described as "struck with terror at the mere name of the Servant of
God" - the parents were naturally glad to have one or two angels in the
family, to act as avvocati (pleaders) for those that remained on earth.
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