From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 20th - Blessed Columba of Rieti, Mystic   
      
   Born in Rieti, Umbria, Italy, in 1467; died in Perugia, Italy, in 1501;   
   beatified in 1697 (or 1627).   
   Columba of Rieti is one of many pious mystics of the third order of Saint   
   Dominic. According to legend, angels sang around the house when Columba was   
   born. She was originally to be called Angelica, but a white dove appeared   
   over the baptismal font, and it was decided to change the name to Columba   
   (another source says that her name was Angelella Guardagnoli). Her parents   
   were too charitable to save any money, and the little girl learned to be   
   hungry gracefully with them. Early in life, she learned to spin and sew, and   
   she and her mother took upon themselves the task of doing the mending for   
   the Dominican fathers in Rieti.   
      
   Columba soon picked up the art of reading from the sisters at Rieti, and   
   learned the Little Office from hearing it chanted. She was especially   
   devoted to Our Lady, and, as soon as she had read a life of Saint Catherine   
   of Siena, she began to model her life on that of the great Dominican   
   tertiary. Columba's parents seem to have had a very casual attitude towards   
   the goods of this world, and, apparently, she and they worked only at odd   
   times, when it was absolutely necessary. They devoted the rest of their time   
   to prayer and good works among the poor.   
      
   At 12, Columba was self-supporting and, furthermore, she had learned that   
   charming truth: "It is better to need less than to have more." Earnestly   
   praying to know her vocation, she was favored with a vision in which she saw   
   Our Lord on a golden throne, attended by SS Dominic, Jerome, and Peter   
   Martyr of Verona. Columba interpreted the vision to mean that she was to   
   dedicate herself to God, and she pronounced a private vow of virginity and   
   made plans to live a solitary life.   
      
   Unfortunately, she did not think to mention this to her parents, who were   
   busy arranging a marriage for her. The night before the engagement was to be   
   publicly announced, they suddenly told her that the young man they had   
   arranged for her to marry was waiting in the parlor to see her. Forewarned   
   by a vision, Columba had made up her mind what to do. She quickly cut off   
   her hair and sent it in to him, which seems to be the accepted Dominican way   
   of declining a suitor. He took the hint and departed, to the fury of   
   Columba's brothers, who perhaps had felt that the family finances were about   
   to be put on a solid basis.   
      
   Columba, following Saint Catherine's example, settled down to live the life   
   of a recluse in her father's house. She worked skillfully at whatever her   
   mother suggested, which softened the good lady's annoyance at her daughter's   
   peculiar choice of life. An uncle and one of her brothers persecuted her   
   continually, and one time her brother tried to kill her.   
      
   All in all, one would hardly say that these were comfortable surroundings   
   for a mystic. In the midst of all this, Columba set sturdily about her   
   program of spirituality: she kept five Lents a year, fasted on bread and   
   water, and went to Mass and to Communion as often as she was allowed in   
   those days of infrequent Communion.   
      
   Columba had a special devotion to the Holy Infancy, and she longed to visit   
   the Holy Land and see the places sanctified by the Incarnate Christ. Never   
   able to make the trip in actuality, she made it spiritually, and once, in an   
   ecstasy that lasted five days, she was conducted to all the holy places in   
   Palestine.   
      
   On one occasion, her confessor, who was something of an artist, had promised   
   to make her a set of crib figures to use at Christmas time. He forgot to do   
   so, and she was desolate until the Christ-Child himself appeared to her.   
   Then she had no need of wooden figures. Once, when she was meditating on the   
   Passion, she was so affected by what she saw that she begged our Lord never   
   to let her see such suffering again, for fear she would die of its   
   intensity.   
      
   At age 19, Columba was received into the third order of Saint Dominic. She   
   had been favored with a vision telling her that she should join this group,   
   and, as soon as she was clothed with the habit, she led a pilgrimage to the   
   Dominican shrine of Our Lady of the Oak in Viterbo.   
      
   Her fame had already begun to spread; as they went along the road, people   
   crowded to get close to her and hailed her as a saint. Columba was   
   embarrassed by such attention, but she proceeded to Viterbo. Here she prayed   
   that a devil might be cast out of a young woman who had been possessed for   
   18 years. When the woman was healed, the word spread all over the region   
   that Columba was a real saint.   
      
   The citizens of Narni determined to trap her and keep her as she passed   
   through that city on her return home. Warned of their intention, Columba and   
   her little party crept out by night and fled from those overly enthusiastic   
   citizens, who would one day wage a bloody battle to gain custody of another   
   saintly Dominican-Lucy of Narni.   
      
   It is unknown why Columba moved to Foligno; perhaps the fame of her   
   miracles-including the raising of a dead child to life-was beginning to   
   press down upon her. In 1488, she moved to the convent of the Poor Clares.   
      
   The bishop soon heard about her, and, unexpectedly, Columba found herself in   
   the role of foundress for a community of Dominican tertiaries that the   
   bishop wished to establish in Perugia. The bishop sent word for her to go to   
   Perugia, and at the same time the master general told her to return to   
   Rieti.   
      
   The good people of Foligno blocked all the roads, and said quite plainly   
   that Columba was going nowhere. When the master general's envoy came to get   
   her, she was in ecstasy, and he had to shake her awake to give her the   
   message. She went along very obediently. Eventually, however, the master   
   general changed his mind, and she was sent to Perugia.   
      
   Columba took her solemn vows in the convent of Perugia on Pentecost in 1490.   
   She lived there happily, frequently lost in prayer, until her death 11 years   
   later. Bishops, priests, and magistrates came to consult her about their   
   various problems, and to ask her prayers. When the plague was decimating the   
   peninsula in 1494, she told the people to dedicate the city to Saint Dominic   
   and Saint Catherine. Her request was executed and the plague immediately   
   ceased. She is said to have been ruthlessly persecuted by Lucrezia Borgia,   
   but no details are available.   
      
   Despite all this heavenly activity, Columba was a very kind superior, who   
   never expected any of her charges to imitate her extreme penances. She   
   claimed, "No sister dead to grace can remain in a convent; for either she   
   will repent of her sins, or she will be cast out on the cold shores of the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)