(A.D. 1309.)
[B. Angela was beatified by Pope Innocent XII. in 1693. Her life
and revelations were written by her confessor, Arnald, friar of the
order of S. Francis, in her lifetime, and the revelations were
submitted to her for correction.]
The Blessed Angela, of Foligni, belonged to a rich and honourable family
in Umbria. She was married, and had children. Upon the death of her
mother, husband, and children, her heart turned in an agony of love to
God alone, and appeared filled to overflowing with that divine charity
of which an earthly affection is but a reflection. She was frequent in
prayer, and made a discreet use of the Sacrament of penance. "Once she
confessed her sins to me," says Friar Arnald, "preserving the most
perfect knowledge of her sins, and was filled with so much contrition
and tears, from the beginning of her confession to the end, and with so
great humility, that I wept in my heart, believing most surely, that if
the whole world was deceived, God would not permit her, who was full of
so much truth and integrity, to be deceived. The following night she was
sick, well nigh to death, and next morning she drew herself, with great
effort, to the Franciscan Church, and I was then saying mass, and I
communicated her, and I know that she never communicated without God
giving her some great favour, and that a new one continually. But so
great were the consolations and illuminations which she received in her
soul, that frequently they seemed to overflow into her body. Thus, when
she was standing with me, and her soul was lifted up, her face and body
were transformed, through joy, at the divine words of address, and
devotion, and delight at the consolations, that her eyes shone as
candles, and her face flushed like a rose, and became radiant and
angelical, as was beyond nature."
The inner life and meditations of the Blessed Angela were written down
from her lips, and were read over to her by the confessor. They are full
of instruction and beauty, and are of considerable length. She died on
the 4th January, 1309.
Her body reposes in a shrine in the Franciscan Church at Foligni.
[Illustration: Decoration]