Other Miraculous Signs of the Saint

A young Italian lady, Eliza Greco, was in great

trouble, seeing no prospect of the obstacles to her
marriage being removed. She was engaged to an
officer, who on account of his financial circumstances and also his health, found it utterly impossible to carry out his wishes. To make matters worse,
there was no prospect of his being ordered to the
African Colonies. He wished to retire from the army,
but this did not lessen the difficulties, for there were
drawbacks also to his getting other appointments as
those to whom he applied seemed to think it
strange that he should wish to change his profession. In the meantime, the lady to whom he was
engaged, being in the habit of attending church at
the Barnabites, and having heard in a sermon of the
many and wonderful favors obtained through the
intercession of St. Anthony Mary, made some
special promises to the Saint and began a novena in
his honor. Her faith was very soon rewarded, for
contrary to all expectations, the officer obtained a
splendid appointment that put an end to all their
difficulties. On the 3rd of May 1899, they hung near
the tomb of St. Anthony Mary a silver heart that
might serve as a lasting token of their loving gratitude to their heavenly Benefactor.
December 1893
A young girl named Adalgisa Comelli, who worked
as mistress in the Istituto Girelli at Marone, on the
Lago d'Iseo, was attacked by a disease beginning in
a sore behind the right ear. This remained a deep

and open wound till at last the bone became diseased.

Every remedy was tried and several specialists consulted, but nothing could be done. Year after year,
things grew worse. At last, towards the end of October
1898, it was decided that an operation must be
performed and a part of the skull removed. The poor
girl worn out from pain, and frightened at the thought
of the terrible operation, asked to have it postponed
for nine days. By the advice of the Directress of the
Institute, she turned with all her heart to St. Anthony
Mary. Using no further remedies, but consecrating
these nine days to the Saint, she begged his help,
recommending all of herself to him. She also received
from the Directress a relic of the Saint to put under her
pillow.
What was her joy to find, on the morning of the
ninth day, that she had not only slept all night and no
longer felt any pain, but that she was perfectly cured.
The wound was healed, and there was no longer any
trace or mark of the disease that had caused her such
frightful sufferings for eight years. She at once had a
Mass said in thanksgiving to St.Anthony Mary.
May 1899
Gustavo Mortara of Canneto sull'Oglio had, for fourteen months, been suffering from complication of
diseases. His whole body was one immense sore, and
gangrene had already set in. He was given up by the
doctors and awaited death. In God he could not hope,
for he hardly knew that a God existed. His wife, who
was a fervent catholic, used every means in her power
to get him to go with her to visit the altar of St.
Anthony Mary. She used every persuasion, and with
the help of others, at last induced him to go with her
to the church. Entering, he asked what altar that might
be where he saw so many votive offerings. She told
him it was the altar of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria who
worked such wonderful miracles and cured so many
who invoked him. "Oh" he said with a sneer, "that
means to say I suppose that I, too, shall be cured." His
wife, always sweet and gentle to him explained that to
be cured, one must pray. After great persuasion, she
made him promise to join her in saying an Our Father,
Hail, Mary and a Glory Be for nine days in honor of St.
Anthony Mary. She stayed by his bedside, night and
day, which required more than human strength and
courage, for the exhalations from the sores which
covered his body made it almost impossible to
approach him. She prayed without ceasing and got
others to pray for him. The sick man, however, kept his
word faithfully and read (for he did not know a

prayer) the Our Father, Hail, Mary and the Glory Be

every day. On the morning of the fifth day of the
novena to the Saint, after having slept all night, he
awoke and cried out joyfully to his wife, "Teresa, I am
cured! I am perfectly well! That saint has cured me; it
is certainly he who has done it."
And it was true, the sores were all perfectly
healed, his skin, that had been the color of bronze,
had assumed its natural color, his appetite had
returned and, in a word, he was in perfect health.
On the 11th of May 1899 he came, with his
wife and daughter, to the church to thank St. Anthony
Mary for the wonderful miracle. He had a Mass of
thanksgiving celebrated at his altar, promising to
make a votive offering at his shrine and to recite in
honor of his heavenly Benefactor an Our Father, Hail,
Mary and a Glory Be every day as long as he lived.
September 1899
Antonio Marazzi, a father of a family of eight, the
eldest of whom was not 21 years of age, fell from a
hayloft. His head, having come with great violence
against a sharp stone, was terribly cut. He was at once
brought to the hospital where it was found that the
wound was more than 3.5 inches deep. Almost immediately, tetanus, or what is more commonly known as
lockjaw, set in. After a most careful examination,
several doctors pronounced his case hopeless. One of
his daughters and his sister-in-law (both of whom
were hospital nurses), seeing that there was no longer
any hope, turned to St. Anthony Mary. They put a pannolino on the sick man, had a Mass celebrated at the
tomb of the Saint and began a novena in his honor.
This great saint, so sweet and loving in life, and now
ever ready to sympathize with those who in their
sorrow turn to him with love and confidence, crowned
their faith by working a wonderful miracle in their
favor. The man was restored to perfect health. The cure
was so complete that, as was testified by his sister-inlaw on the 2nd of September 1899, he was able to take
up his usual employments, just as though he had
never been ill. These facts are not only attested by
eyewitnesses, but are recorded in the hospital register
where not only the case but also the circumstances
connected with the cure are minutely described.

The Wonder Worker St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

high: "Francesco, have you never recommended

yourself to the Blessed Zaccaria?" To this he never
answered but burst into tears. The sister too wept,
but full of confidence, she touched his leg with the
relic of the Saint, saying: "Through the intercession
of Blessed Zaccaria may God restore you!" For a
while both remained silent, then Paola added,
"Francesco, promise me to make a novena to the
Saint." The brother promised and left the house in
better spirits. Francesco and Paola prayed fervently
for the nine days. On the ninth day, the 23rd of
October 1876, the leg was straightened. What a
moment that was! The leg was perfectly healed!
Francesco ran to his sister's house anxious to relate
the miracle. "My Paola, he cried, I am cured!
Tomorrow I will return to work". So he did. So complete was his cure that from that day on he had
enjoyed perfect health.

SOME

Miracles of Saint Anthony Zaccaria

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During his lifetime, Anthony Mary is not known to

have worked many miracles. But that gift of working
miracles which he had not on earth, God granted
him and in a very high degree after his death. Very
numerous are the prodigies worked through his
intercession. In olden times, clear testimony of this is
given by many writers. Giuseppe Bresciani in his
Crown of Cremonese Saints, speaking of Zaccaria,
says expressly, "that after his death the Lord worked
many miracles and favors." Agostino Barbosa, the
celebrated jurisconsult, in his work on Ecclesiastical
Rights (1628), writes of Zaccaria, "that as he was holy
in life, so he was illustrious after death by the glory of
his miracles." And the same is confirmed by other
writers among whom may be mentioned Angelica
Gonzaga.
Of the miracles worked in the past, we shall
mention only the one with interesting value connected with the miraculous picture that is preserved
and placed for veneration over the altar where the
body of the Saint lays.
Father Faustino Premoli, rector of the Barnabite College in Crema, on the evening of the 15th of
July 1747, kneeling before a picture of Anthony Mary,
prayed fervently that God would vouchsafe to render
the Saint illustrious by some new and striking miracle
in order that the Barnabites might be enabled to
solicit the process of his Beatification. The next day
some devout persons were praying as usual before the
picture when behold they saw it surrounded by a
bright light and the Servant of God, letting the lily
(which before was upright) fall down on his left arm,
raised his right hand from his breast and blessed
them as a priest does at the altar. While this happened, Father Premoli, who was facing the people
(for he was giving them the blessing with the relic of
the Saint), seeing in them a certain awe and wonder,
asked what had happened, but no one dared to
speak. The apparition over which they exclaimed:
"Oh! What a miracle, what a wonderful miracle we
have seen!" happened. Those who were present
related what had occurred. A standing proof
remained in the picture itself; neither the left hand of
the saint nor the lily took their former position. This
was verified not only by Father Premoli, but also by
many persons who remembered how the picture had
first been painted; among these was the painter Tom-

maso Picenardi who had taken some copies of it.

In this century, we can say without fear of
making mistake that the graces received through the
intercession of the Saint can be counted by hundreds,
but space will only permit us to give only the three
miracles that served for the canonization of St.
Anthony Mary, and a few other miraculous incidents
that happened in later dates.

cenzo, being completely restored to health, took up his

usual work. Six years later, an investigation was made
in Bologna on this truly miraculous cure. He deposed
on oath: "I, from that day on, have always been
perfectly well."

The Second Miracle

The Third Miracle

The First Miracle

The first miracle happened in Castagnolo Minore near

Bologna in 1876 to a 20-year-old peasant, Vincenzo
Zanotti. As a consequence of a muscular sprain, Vincenzo developed varicose veins in the left leg. These
soon formed ulcers. Vincenzos state continued for 45
years until his suffering became unbearable for him.
Having lost all hope of regaining his health, Vincenzo,
by the advice of one of his friends, turned to St. Anthnony Mary Zaccaria. With all the fervor of a soul full of
faith, he made first a novena, and then a triduum to
the Saint. He applied the pannolino, which he had, to
the part affected. (A pannolino is a small piece of linen
that has touched the bones of St. Anthony Mary.) God
rewarded his faith, for at the end of the triduum he
found the leg perfectly cured. He and those present,
including the doctor, cried out: "Its a miracle!" Vin-

to stand on account of her physical weariness, she

asked to be touched with the relic of the Saint, and
wonderful to relate, in a moment she regained her
strength, and without help, she rose from bed. Her
malady disappearedshe was perfectly cured! All
day people came to see her, desirous of seeing for
themselves the great miracle that had happened.

Much more striking is the following cure which took

place in Cremona on the 21st of May 1873. Paola
Aloni, 42 years of age, was suffering from an incurable
organic spinal deformity which had obliged her to stay
in bed for seven years. Her sufferings increased to such
an extent as to allow her no rest, night or day. For four
months, she had been unable to take any nourishment
except a little broth. On the 15th of May 1873 the Last
Sacraments were administered to her, but she continued to recommend herself to St. Anthony Mary, to
whom she had, for six months, been making novena
after novena, being convinced of the cure the Saint
would grant her. "I have never been as ill as I am now,"
she said to her confessor, "and this shows the favor is
about to be granted. 'You will see a great miracle.'" As a
matter of fact, the miracle was not delayed. On the
morning of May 21, she felt an irresistible power urging
her to rise from bed. Fearing that she would not be able

The third miracle happened to a blacksmith named

Francesco Aloni, a brother of the person whose cure
we have just related above. Francesco Aloni, 52 years
of age, had suffered for three years from ulcers and
sores in his leg caused by varicose veins. The corruption that issued from these sores was frightful, and
the sufferings of the poor man daily increased. In the
summer of 1876, his state became so serious that he
was forced to stay in bed. He was brought to two
different hospitals, staying there for several months.
Then he was dismissed, his case having been pronounced chronic and incurable. The poor man left
the hospital crawling, rather than walking, and
unable to get home, he dragged himself to his sister's
house which was near. Seeing him in such a sad state,
her sister, Paola, said to him, as if inspired from on